Teddy Larkin

Osman Nemli
Phil 100
10/24/12
Kant, 85-98
Kant discusses the various ideas of reason, and how they mislead the mind into
posing inexplicable metaphysical questions. Kant expresses the cosmological ideas as
four distinct metaphysical propositions: that the world has a definite beginning (limit)
against the claim that the world is infinite, all things are made up of simple parts against
the claim that nothing is simple but everything is composite, we can act in accordance
with our own free will against the claim that everything we do is determined by nature,
and that there is some necessary being against the claim that nothing is necessary and
everything is contingent (Kant 75). Reason by itself appears capable of proving either
side of each proposition. Kant goes on to show how each proposition results from a
misunderstanding of the matter being discussed.
Kant gives an in depth explication of the flaws in the proofs for the existence of a
God. He states that any "proof" of God's existence is purely intellectual, and cannot lead
to fundamental and substantial conclusions regarding the nature of experience. While
there exist many mysteries regarding what we experience, there should not be any
inexplicable problems in the realm of pure reason. This is due to the fact that these
problems do not reach beyond our own minds into experience.