Routledge Philosophy GuideBook to Kant and the Critique of Pure Reason

The nice thing about this book is that the reader feels like the author is "reading the critique" with the reader herself. Major argumentative difficulties are taken up as they occur, and Gardner analyses Kant's support for his framework keenly. Another pleasant aspect of Gardner's reading is his attempt to show how Kant's transcendental idealism is systematic, that is, how the first Critique is not merely a compendium of conveniently assembled arguments (as some great interpreters like P.F. Strawson have claimed). Rather, by viewing Kant's project as a "metaphysics of experience" in light of the "Copernican revolution" (in which objects must conform, in some way, to the subjects who know them), Gardner unapologetically reviews the plausibility of Kant's views as a system, not as a list of claims that are supported via analytic argumentation. At times, I found Gardner's criticism of Kant's arguments somewhat dense and over-compressed. That said, this is not surprising for such a guide, and the most important arguments/developments in the book, like the Refutation of Idealism and the Transcendental Deduction, are given a full, critical, and clear treatment. For those looking to catch the Kant's overall meaning in the Critique, this book is highly recommended. Its brevity is also laudable. The guide is accessible to those with a basic knowledge of modern philosophy, though not for complete philosophy novices.

I am really enjoying this as a guide and companion as I make my way through CPR. It explains some of the key concepts and also some of the main questions that come up. Taking an early example, the book goes into the question of what impact it has on Kant's framework that geometry (in physics at least) is now understood to be empirical.

Correctly assessing the argument in Kant's first Critique is one of the most difficult exercises in philosophy and often overly stylized summaries induce illusions of clarity, when the real argument is in the background, almost too arcane to be grasped, and leaving one in the distressing condition of realizing one hasn't understood a thing. This account has to be the best of the lot, attempting without compromises to survey the whole majestic range. Good job.

Exactly what I wanted. I buy books for instructors who forgot to order on time or ones that are out of print.

I read the whole of Sebastian Gardner's 'Guidebook' to Kant and understood most of it. On the whole I would recommend this as making Kant more accessible. But I think he could have made the subject easier by avoiding the use of some words and phrases to seemingly impress the reader and the frequent use of parenthesis (the latter like Kant himself) For example...(page 311) "There must therefore be - if morality is not to be a chimera - some principle of action which is a priori and constrains all rational agents irrespective of their contingent empirical constitution" (page 311) Avoing the use of the split infinitive and "therefore" both of which are unnecessary and do not improve the meaning I think the above could have been better expressed as follows... "If morality is not to be a chimera there must be some a priori principle of action which constrains all rational agents irrespective of their circumstances (or character perhaps)"

An excellent, very clear, introduction to Kant's philosophy

I bought this book from amazon.com a few years ago while enrolled in German Critical Philosophy--all Kant. Six books. I found Gardner's book--as well as the Routledge Guidebook (RG) on Wittgenstein--to be not as comprehensive as I wanted or needed. For example, the RG series will take some themes and break them down for the reader. While this is good, they weren't linked back up to the overarching themes. Basically, the RG series aren't deep enough or broad enough. I would not recommend buying this book if you're hoping for a quick fix to understanding CPR. Look for articles on specific topics in _Kant Studien_, a Kant journal your library should have. Beck and also Kemp Smith have good basic intro books on Kant and CPR. Also check with your professor about who is a prominent Kant scholar and check out books by them. (Henry?) Allison has a really great book on Kant's aesthetics, which is ultimately tied up with the epistemology in CPR. recent edit: obviously I'm biased to my own review, but this book is not the best general commentary on Kant and CPR, though it may be the easiest to find or come across here on the internet. Dig deeper and you'll be rewarded. Trust me.

Outstanding. An invaluable introduction and commentary.

It is one among the source to understand Kant .... but b4 v enter into Kant should read Aristotle metaphysics, Einstein theory like relativity & general,and origin of philosophy, society, morality..... so read more than​ 100 times to understand...

『純粋理性批判』の入門書として読み、少しだけ同書に対する理解が深まったように思います（「少し」なのは無論私の無能力の故）。最後まで楽しく？読みましたが、入門書としては解釈の相違に関する記載が比較的多く、oxymoronicですが上級者向け入門書というような印象も持ちました。

I approached my study of the CPR by reading a few shorter summaries first, then reading this, then reading the Critique itself. In an ideal world you should always read philosophy in the source text, and most of the time this is the only way you will ever truly understand it. However in this instance, as I was reading the CPR, I very often felt that I wasn't getting very much more out of it than I had already got from the Routledge Guide, which is a testament both to the quality of the explanation in this book and to the rather dry and somewhat overcomplexity of the source text. This book really is a fantastic explanation that solidified the concepts for me in a way which none of the previous summaries I had read had even come close to. However, there were several parts where this wasn't the case. The Transcendental Deduction in the Analytic (both the most important and the most complicated part of the book) I only really GOT from the source text. The reason for this is also an interesting critique of the Routledge guide: the occasional problem is that the guide often presents an analysis of the concepts of the Critique within the context of the fact that the book can either be interpreted from the Analytic tradition or the Continental/Idealist tradition. These two interpretations of the work are very very different, and if you buy into one the other will confuse the hell out of you. Personally I would say that I sit very firmly in the Continental camp in the way that I would read this, in particular I tend to read it very much as proto-phenomenolgy of the Heideggerian variety. Therefore, the description of the deduction in the guide, because it is sensitive to both interpretations, was actually very confusing; and it was only when I read the actual book that I truly understood the transcendental unity of apperception in my own way. However, I am not saying this is a fault of the book; simply that you need to bear this in mind if you intend to read this instead of the source text. One last note for Kindle readers: the book is not tagged very well in the Kindle edition, for example the contents page does not include the actual names of the chapters. Otherwise it's OK though

This is a classic text on Kant. However, it is not easy. I would recommend serious readers who are otherwise not familiar with Kant to get some introduction (I read Broad's "Kant: An Introduction") which helped a lot. There is a lot of emphasis in the later part of the book on the differentiation between Kant's noumenalism and Berkeley's idealism, which maybe not of interest to everybody.

In my opinion this is an excellent and clear guide. Professor Guyer (authority on Kant) describes the guide as the best introduction to Kant's Critique written in the last 20 years. Guyer is translator of the Cambridge edition of the works of Kant, editor of the Cambridge Companion to Kant and author of at least one leading textbook and many articles. Not a man to give praise lightly, I would suggest. I found the Guide made clear that which the Kemp-Smith translation of Kant did not, by explaining some of the historical background and giving examples. The guide also explains how the idealist and empiricist arguments, prevalent at the time Kant wrote, were refuted by Kant. Without the historical background and the reasoning of the idealists and empiricists being explained, the reader will struggle to understand what Kant is trying to do. Reading Gardner makes what Kant has to say clear, which is not to say that you should not read Kant himself. But I would not reverse the process and only read Kant, that way lies madness and frustration. The Critique is the Mount Everest of philosophy, and you will need a sherpa. Gardner's book is the support you will need.