The Critique of Pure Reason, Part 57 summary
Part 57 of 79 · Part 2: Transcendental Logic · 5 min to read the part
In I. Solution of the Cosmological Idea of the Totality of the Composition of Pheno, reason requires inquiry to proceed from each condition to another without accepting an absolute boundary. This rule establishes an indefinite regress, not a given infinity, because experience never presents the universe as a complete whole whose size we can determine.
What happens
- An empirical search cannot encounter an absolute boundary, because empty space or empty time cannot supply an experience.
- Reason therefore requires us to seek another condition beyond every condition already reached.
- Because the universe is not perceived as a whole, its size cannot determine how far the search extends.
- The argument rejects both a given infinite cosmic quantity and an absolute boundary accessible through experience.
- The required regress proceeds indefinitely, without demanding an endless sequence of any single kind of phenomenon.
- Cosmic quantity is determined only through the regress, which supplies neither a definite total nor a given infinity.
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What to notice
The sentence shifts the issue from the universe’s supposed total size to the rule governing inquiry. Reason directs the search for conditions without supplying a complete cosmic quantity.
Quick check
Why does the argument call the regress indefinite rather than infinite?
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