KANT, Immanuel.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

Träume eines Geistersehers, erläutert durch Träume der Metaphysik. First edition, first issue, of Kant's first published work on metaphysics. This scarce treatise examines the concept of a spirit world, in response to the spiritualist claims of Emanuel Swedenborg (1668-1772). Kant concludes that philosophical knowledge of any spirit world is impossible, as human reason is constrained by the limits of our experience. The influence of Humean scepticism is particularly evident here, and Träume eines Geistersehers is one of the key works in which Kant (with Hume's help) shakes off his dogmatic acceptance of human knowledge of the spirit world.The first issue credits "Hor." for the Latin quotation on the title page; the second and third issues, printed in Riga and Mietau, expand the abbreviation to "Horat." and have different ornaments on the title page.

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