Kant's Critique of Pure Reason: The Foundation of Modern Philosophy (Studies in German Ideal... Book

I am not a philosophy student. An innocent conversation with a friend led me to the ‘Justice’ lecture series by Professor Michael Sandel, which compelled me to explore this subject matter in greater depths.

After having read the ‘Apology’ by Plato, I realised I needed to read something that would introduce me to Plato’s philosophy before diving further. But this book is not about that. It is the author’s own take on Platonism. Right off the bat there are some obvious hurdles. The writing style is ornate. It takes a lot of patience to make sense and derive something useful from the text. That patience though is rewarded by some beautiful passages on intellect and rational thinking.

To my surprise, I found the author’s writing more declamatory. It was exasperating to read about his criticism of experimental and modern science. He writes “On the other hand modern mathematicians, through a profound ignorance of this divine truth, and looking to nothing but the wants and conveniences of the animal life of man, as if the gratification of his senses was his only end, have corrupted pure geometry, by mingling with it algebraical calculations, and through eagerness to reduce it as much as possible to practical purposes, have more anxiously sought after conciseness than accuracy, facility than elegance of geometrical demonstration.”
Though, I am a novice at this subject, I am quite sure there are instances in the book where applications of Platonism have been overstated. Here’s one such example: “the principles of the philosophy of Plato are of all others the most friendly to true piety, pure morality, solid learning, and sound government. For as it is scientific in all its parts, and in these parts comprehends all that can be known by man in theology and ethics, and all that is necessary for him to know in physics.”

I may recommend this book to someone looking to explore interpretation of Platonism by different authors across different time periods. But it does not serve as an ‘introduction’ to anything.