Books

First edition of Kant's third major critical treatise, his most important work after the other two Critiks, and the scarcest of the three. The Critik der Urtheilskraft brings together the theoretical and practical parts of the critical philosophy outlined in the earlier two Critiks. "The work consists of two main parts, the first dealing with the aesthetic judgment, the second with the teleological judgment or judgment of the purposiveness in Nature... Kant tries, as far as our consciousness is concerned at least, to bridge the gulf between the mechanistic world of Nature as presented in physical science and the world of morality, freedom and faith. That is to say, he tries to show how the mind passes from the one to the other" (Copleston, p. 209). Kant's theory of aesthetic judgment has exerted a considerable influence on the modern philosophy of art, while his concept of purposiveness in nature develops a philosophical theory of biological cognition. The second edition was published in 1793. Octavo (196 x 119 mm). Contemporary half calf, spine panelled and decorated in gilt, with raised bands and yellow paper label lettered in gilt, mottled paper sides, edges red. Woodcut vignette to the title page. With the 1895 signature of "Ingeborg Rainkier" on the title page. Extremities neatly restored, head of spine repaired. Light rubbing, slight toning to the spine, head of the spine chipped, front joint cracked but firm, minor browning and foxing to endpapers and contents: a very good copy. Adickes 71; Norman Library of Science & Medicine 1199; Warda 125. Frederick Copleston, A History of Philosophy VI, 1960.

Critik der Urtheilskraft, or Critique of Judgement, is a philosophical work by Immanuel Kant, published in 1790. It is the third of his critiques, following the Critique of Pure Reason (1781) and the Critique of Practical Reason (1788). The work addresses aesthetics and the philosophy of science, exploring the faculty of judgement.