ABSTRACT
This chapter shows that the arguments in the Transcendental Dialectic purport to show that neither the path of the dogmatists (rationalists) nor that of the skeptics (empiricists) could rescue us from the thorny nest of conflicts and confusions that serve to mislead and impede reason’s development. And yet, nevertheless, there is still hope. The chapter starts with an outline of the contrast between the task of the Analytic and that of the Dialectic, continues with a discussion of reason’s ‘lust’ (for knowledge) and ‘hope’ (to achieve it), and concludes with an examination of the pseudo-rational ideas of Rational Cosmology, Psychology and Theology.
