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Tallis in Wonderland

An Overdue Appearance of Immanuel Kant

Raymond Tallis introduces a giant of philosophy to Wonderland.

Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) has had scarcely a walk-on part in this column. This is a serious omission: the Sage of Königsberg has a position in European philosophy similar to that occupied by Johann Sebastian Bach in Western classical music. Like Bach, Kant in some sense gathered up all that came before him and has been a decisive influence on all that followed him.

His work has been an important presence in my life since my teens. My paperback copy of the classic Kemp Smith translation of the Critique of Pure Reason (1781), purchased in the late Sixties, shows signs of intense study.

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