Kant's Dialectic Limitations
"Mathematics, natural science, laws, arts, even morality, etc., do not completely fill the soul; there is always a space left over reserved for pure and speculative reason, the emptiness of which prompts us to seek in vagaries, buffooneries, and mysticism for what seems to be employment and entertainment, but what actually is mere pastime undertaken in order to deaden the troublesome voice of reason, which, in accordance with its nature, requires something that can satisfy it and does not merely sub serve other ends or the interests of our inclinations."
This statement comes from Immanuel Kant's Prolegomena of Future Metaphysics. It is a basic generalization and a concluding summary to the basic points found in the Prolegomena. It is also the basis for quandaries found by future philosophers such as Hegel and Marx. In Kant's view, dialectical reasoning is based on insufficiently examined premises which allow for unreliable tendencies. However by taking this position and limiting knowledge to that of which we can be certain, he creates a stagnant philosophy. Kant restricts his philosophy to the point that it is not capable of changing with history and he ignores the most interesting aspects of the human experience.
Kant used dialectic as the criticism of the logic of illusion in order to show the contradictions created when reason tries to go beyond experience to deal with transcendental objects, or the objects outside of human experience. Kant believed that judgments must be made using both reason and experience. He said that he didn?t believe in the possibility of a ...