In chapter 10 “Kant: The Need for Reason to Dominate,” Joel J. Kupperman has illustrated the role of human perception and believes in forming a reason or judgement. It is said that humans do follow the empirical approach to find answers for their queries, but even before finding the truth, their minds structure the truth. When a car is stopped suddenly, the driver can say that it stopped for no reason, but even without checking the engine, the passenger knows that there has to be a reason for its malfunctioning. It is because of the prior experiences or truths that the passenger has already structured about the truth before knowing the truth.
The author uses Kant’s Method of reasoning to explain the human thought process. This method comprises of three critiques. The first is the Critique of Pure Reason. This explains that a human mind gathers all past facts and knowledge to build up a logical reason. The second is the Critique of Practical Reason which connects the effect of something with possible actions for it. The author explains in the chapter that all human desires are connected with actions to achieve, and that forms the basis of defining laws and principles. The third is the Critique of Judgement, and that is another important aspect in forming human perception for truth. It links human experience and intuition, defining that humans’ personal interest, feelings, and imagination can alter the nature of their judgements.
In the later part of the chapter, the author elaborates Kant’s concept of the noumenal and phenomenal world. Humans are aware of the phenomenal world, knowing that they are intelligent beings, and the truth is what can be seen or assessed. However, the unaware reality that truth is not separated from human senses and morality. It is not seen either accessible, but it is present and has a profound influence on all reasoning made in the phenomenal world.
Works Cited
Kupperman, Joel J., editor. “Kant: The Need for Reason to Dominate.” Theories of Human Nature, and, Human Nature: A Reader, Hackett Publishing, 2010, pp. 125–37.