---

On Kant‘s view

“I see the sun and know that now the time is noon. Also I know the south, the north, west, and east. For this purpose, however, I also need the feeling of differentiation about my own subjective, actually the right and the left hand. I name it a feeling because these two sides of right and left have no obvious difference on the outside. And if one day by all the wonder all the stars and signs in the sky change their position to opposite direction, even an astronomer might be wrong about everything if he only decides based on what he sees and not by what he already knows. Actually , what he always practiced and the knowledge he built would help him to define the right positions and time still based on the feeling of the right and left hand, only if he could see the polar stars. Geographically, I inform myself through all the objective data in the sky but only by a subjective differential reasoning. We can’t make any of our understanding meaningful, if there is not some perception for it outside.

Another example, I can mathematically find orientation in a well-known dark room only if I can touch (or feel) one object the place of which I already have in mind. But here what helps me is not the confirmation of differentiated reasoning because the objects the place of which I should define I cannot see. And if someone wants to make fun of me by placing the object in the opposite position, I can find nothing in the room with the same walls all around. But if I have to do it, I’ll do it anyway with the feeling that I have about the right and left hand…”

These simple examples of geographical orientation by Immanuel Kant demonstrate the confrontation of subjective and objective reasoning and, at the same time, the necessity of their association. In the same way as we orient ourselves geographically with the help of objects, Kant says, we can use the same concept to orient our thinking through subjective and objective reasoning. When there is no objective reasoning or insight, we can use our own discernment with a subjective differentiation reasoning. According to Kant’s view, the subjective element is the feeling of need inherent in reason. Another word, one can not use the subjective element for nothing or a mere fantasy when there is no need for it in the objective world.

When there is no vision (view) of any object, a mere concept is all we can begin with for orienting our thinking. However, the concept needs to be justified with the help of thought experiments, and this can be done by making a relationship between our thoughts and reality. If no relationship can be found, that means the concept can’t be used. There is only one exception for the use of subjective elements of pure reasoning started from nothingness; It’s when the reasoning is related to the causes of the world. To answer the question of “What is actually there (Dasein)”, we might start with the concept of a primordial being (Urwesen). It can be also the case when we feel the need to give a finite concept to something infinite. For instance, when we consider a highest intelligence or highest good as a first primordial being, this assumption is by no means an empirical but an essential possibility. It’s a possibility correlative to the necessity of discovering what is there (Dasein) without which neither the accidental existence of the things in the world nor their purposes and orders has any convincing reason.

As Kant argued, there are two types of need for pure reasoning without the help of objective elements, theoretical and practical. Proposing the idea of a highest intelligence and good for mere understanding of what is really there is a theoretical need. Expanding the idea for the regulation of moral laws, however, is a practical need for that pure reasoning. Yet, for practical purposes, the subjective pure reasoning should be associated in proper proportion with what comes from the objective world and nature. For instance, considering a mere possibility of a highest intelligence and good for regulating the moral laws alone without thinking carefully about the nature-given objective elements, namely the freedom and joy of living, is not only nonsense but also impractical! Therefore, however the subjective possibilities for our thinking orientation are limitless, they must be balanced with the objective elements of the world in order to be used as universal associations. These two inseparable halves of our existence, namely subjective and objective associations, when harmonized in an appropriate proportion, can help us not only understand what is actually there but also find our unique position and potentialities in this complicated world.

• “Was heißt: sich im Denken orientieren”, Immanuel Kant