Critique of the Kantian Philosophy
article by Arthur Schopenhauer, appended to the first volume of The World as Will and Representation (1818)
Critique of the Kantian Philosophy (German: "Kritik der Kantischen Philosophie") is a 143-page essay which Arthur Schopenhauer appended to the first volume of his The World as Will and Representation (1818). He wanted to show Immanuel Kant's errors so that Kant's merits would be appreciated and his achievements furthered.
At the time he wrote his criticism, Schopenhauer was acquainted only with the second (1787) edition of Kant's Critique of Pure Reason. When he later read the first (1781) edition, he said that many of the contradictions he had identified in the second edition had been absent from the first edition.
Kant's merits
According to Schopenhauer's essay, Kant's three main merits are as follows:
The distinction of the phenomenon from the thing-in-itself (Ding an sich)
The intellect mediates between things and knowledge
Locke's primary qualities result from the mind's activity, just as his secondary qualities result from receptivity at any of the five senses
A priori knowledge is separate from a posteriori knowledge
The ideal and the real are diverse from each other
Transcendental philosophy goes beyond dogmatic philosophy's "eternal truths", such as the principle of contradiction and the principle of sufficient reason. It shows that those "truths" are based on necessary forms of thought that exist in the mind.
The explanation of how the moral significance of human conduct is different from the laws that are concerned with phenomena
The significance is directly related to the thing-in-itself, the innermost nature of the world
Religious scholastic philosophy is completely overthrown by the demonstration of the impossibility of proofs for speculative theology and also for rational psychology, or reasoned study of the soul
Schopenhauer also said that Kant's discussion, on pages A534 to A550, of the contrast between empirical and intelligible characters is one of Kant's most profound ideas. Schopenhauer asserted that it is among the most admirable things ever said by a human.
The empirical character of a phenomenon is completely determined
The intelligible character of a phenomenon is free. It is the thing-in-itself which is experienced as a phenomenon.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Critique of the Kantian Philosophy” is article by Arthur Schopenhauer, appended to the first volume of The World as Will and Representation (1818). The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Critique, Kantian and Philosophy, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “article by Arthur Schopenhauer, appended to the first volume of The World as Will and Representation (1818)” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 7, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5186897. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1818, 1787 and 1781.
A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Critique of the Kantian Philosophy”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Critique of the Kantian Philosophy primary sources, Critique of the Kantian Philosophy archive and Critique research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Critique of the Kantian Philosophy”?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Critique of the Kantian Philosophy” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.