Critique of Pure Reason

For Kant, cognition is the aspect of the mind that deals with the recognition of objects. Since every presentation before the mind is of an object (be it mental or sensible) cognition is a very general category. A priori cognitions are a special kind of cognition that takes place independently of experience; experience, for Kant, is also related to sensible intuition. The possibility of synthetic a priori cognitions is integral to the use of pure reason.

Intuition is the direct cognition of an object. It is opposed to conception (the making of concepts) in that it is receptive to the outer world, not active upon it. Human intuitions, Kant claims, are always sensible, that is, of sensation. There are two essential forms all our intuitions require: space and time.

The “Transcendental Logic” is the longest and most involved part of the Critique. It is the science of the rules of the possible use of the capacity of understanding. The understanding is a faculty of the mind, which, for Kant, involves the active capacity of the mind to form concepts (through general categories) in conjunction with our intuitions of objects. Transcendental logic is a field of philosophical study that details the nature of the faculty of understanding so that we have knowledge of all its functions and limitations.