Reddit reviews Kant: Critique of Pure Reason (The Cambridge Edition of the Works of Immanuel Kant)

Paul Guyer/Allen Wood's translation of Critique of Pure Reason is respected among Kant scholars I know. Kemp Smith is considered easier to read, so the first could be put as a more technical (or, maybe, precise) one.

I've never read any of those from beginning to end though. My first language isn't English, so I use Guyer's translation just for consultation.

For much more accurate analysis, see:
http://www.amazon.com/Critique-Reason-Cambridge-Edition-Immanuel/product-reviews/0521657296/ref=cm_cr_dp_see_all_summary?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending

As secondary literature for reading the first Critique, I recommend "A Kant Dictionary", by Howard Gaygill, and "Kant and the Critique of Pure Reason", by Sebastian Gardner. These assuming you know something about Kant, his project, historical background, achievements, etc. If not, start with Scruton's or Allen Wood's introductory book to Kant.

About Descartes, I don't know which translations are available, but I have to notify that Discourse on the Method gives only a superficial idea of Descartes' philosophy. In order to understand him, to see that he isn't as "inconsistent" as he might appear, and to get a full metaphysical system, read Meditations on First Philosophy.

For shits and giggles I looked up the stats for Kant's Critique of Pure Reason.

The standard edition of Kant's works is the German Academy of Sciences edition of Kants gesammelte Schriften, published by Walter de Gruyter in Berlin. The second edition of the Kritik der reinen Vernunft is in volume 3. You can order a copy of your very own from the publisher here.

The standard English translation of the Critique is the one by Paul Guyer and Allen Wood, published by Cambridge University Press. The German page numbers cited by wokeupabug appear in the margins in addition to the actual page numbers.

Apologies--The first critique. The Critique of Pure Reason. This one, to be exact.

Try this

Use a good translation: http://www.amazon.com/Critique-Reason-Cambridge-Edition-Immanuel/dp/0521657296

Try out Allison (as well as Guyer's) commentaries.

Also check out a good Kantian dictionary: http://www.amazon.com/Kant-Dictionary-Blackwell-Philosopher-Dictionaries/dp/0631175350 (since much of his conceptual scheme consists of neologisms).

Lastly, you should check out Strawson's essay' The Bounds of Sense.' http://www.amazon.com/The-Bounds-Sense-Critique-Reason/dp/0415040302. It's sort of a modern 'take' on Kantian themes (not an exegesis of Kant, but a modernization of some of the arguments. It actually sheds some light on Kant's project).

And good luck, try not to be discouraged. I've had two graduate seminars on Kant and they've both been difficult. But, it's not just nonsense. There is some agreement about the structure (and importance) of many of the arguments in the critique and they're worth grappling with, even if you're dealing with reconstructions of the arguments from commentaries.

Plenty of Christian apologists were convinced by Christianity. What do you think would cause a staunch atheist to convert?

>Why do we distinguish between apologetics and philosophy?

Often we don't, and oftentimes a philosopher is an apologist and vice versa.

> Why are so few philosophers theists?

This wasn't the case for most of human history, and I don't think it's fair to draw the conclusion out of the current state of secularization in academia.

>If you think you've got something good then by all means share it, but I don't expect to be surprised.

Have you read the following?

Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis - Lewis was an atheist for most of his life, but later became the most well-known Christian apologist. You might also want to read his autobiography, Surprised by Joy.

The Reason for God by Tim Keller.

The Language of God by Francis Collins -
This one is more about how science and religion relate, and it's written by one of the leading scientists of the modern day.

Summa Theologica by Thomas Aquinas This is the original apologetic. If you're alright with some more-serious reading, this would be a great book to have read, both from an intellectual and historical perspective.

Descartes' Meditations While I'm not really convinced by his arguments, Descartes is known as the "Father of Modern Philosophy" for popularizing rationalism, or the use of reason/logic as the chief source or test of knowledge.

Pascal's Pensees

The Critique of Pure Reason by Immanuel Kant This is known as "one of the greatest works in the history of philosophy" Quite the opposite of Descartes, Kant actually argues against the notion that we can use reason alone to understand the universe.

Fear and Trembling by Soren Kierkegaard - This is definitely not apologetics. However, he was an incredibly Christian philosopher, and is known as the Father of Existentialism (interesting that the founder of existentialism was a devout Christian, though now it is often associated with atheists such as Sarte and Nietzsche).

I've heard the same from professors. Bennett's translations are great for the more casual or less advanced reader, not so great for upper level academic work. I had a similar experience, but with a different philosopher who I cannot remember at the late moment. OP should probably check Bennett's Kant translations out.

Also, I don't know of any free comprehensive guides to the Critique, but if you go to the library you should be able to find a copy of the cambridge edition of the Critique of Pure Reason. Paul Goyer has a relatively concise introduction and it contains a pretty nice overview of the Critique and Kant's project. It helped me gain my bearings when I read the Critique. It might help.