THE CRITIQUE OF PURE REASONby Immanuel Kanttranslated by J. M. D. MeiklejohnPREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION, 1781Human reason, in one sphere of its cognition, is called upon toconsider questions, which it cannot decline, as they are presentedby its own nature, but which it cannot answer, as they transcend everyfaculty of the mind.It falls into this difficulty without any fault of its own. Itbegins with principles, which cannot be dispensed with in the field ofexperience, and the truth and sufficiency of which are, at the sametime, insured by experience. With these principles it rises, inobedience to the laws of its own nature, to ever higher and moreremote conditions. But it quickly discovers that, in this way, itslabours must remain ever inplete, because new questions never cease...
