What questions did Kant ask in Critique of Pure Reason, Critique of Practical Reason, and Critique of Judgment?

Immanuel Kant’s three "critical" works revolutionized philosophy by examining the nature and limits of human reason in different domains.12

The Three Critiques

• Critique of Pure Reason: Kant investigates the scope of human reason regarding metaphysics and epistemology. The central question he formulates is: "How are synthetic a priori judgments possible?" This work seeks to determine the conditions under which knowledge can be both necessary and universal while providing substantive information about reality.1

• Critique of Practical Reason: This treatise focuses on ethics and the nature of moral obligation. Kant explores how moral law functions as a demand of reason, independent of empirical desires. He also re-examines the ideas of God, freedom, and immortality, arguing that while they cannot be known through theoretical reason, they are essential postulates for the moral life.34

• Critique of Judgment: Kant examines the faculty of judgment as it relates to aesthetics and teleology. He analyzes how we ascribe beauty to objects and how we interpret organic nature, suggesting that we must view organisms "as if" they were the product of design, even though we cannot prove they were deliberately produced.2