Philosophy Research Archives

Volume 14, 1988/1989

John L. Treloar
Pages 183-192

The Polemical Employment of Pure Reason and Kantian Ethics

From the earliest days of philosophy, polemic has functioned as a common means of philosophical argumentation. Kant spends some time in the Critique of Pure Reason analyzing the place of polemic in rational argumentation. Even though it does not provide a legitimate approach to philosophical argument as employed by the dogmatists, Kant’s concern for the teaching of the young allows him to raise some issues concerning the ethics of philosophical argumentation also.