The Kantian Centennial [pp. 394-424]

THE KANTIAN CENTENNIAL.
history will most cordially render to the great philosopher at the
close of a century since the publication of his greatest work.
Time, however, is the test of all human productions, and the
"Critique of Pure Reason" has been subjected during this century to manifold and trying criticisms from foes and friends.
The significance of this treatise has been specially manifested in
the searching ordeal through which it has passed, and the spirited discussions which it has awakened. Those of us who desire
to honor its author most effectually can do so by noticing a few
of the criticisms and inquiries which have been suggested by the
study of the work which a century ago he gave to the world with
so many misgivings, and yet with so much confidence.
I. We notice, first of all, that the terminology of the work is
needlessly artificial and abstract. Speculative men have often
speculated concerning the practicability of a philosophical language, and have argued eloquently of the advantages which such
a language would bring to the advancement and communication
of knowledge. Their arguments would seem to find confirmation
in the marvellous advantages which have accrued to many special
sciences from a precise and systematic nomenclature. These
advantages, however, have only been realized where the subjectmatter is in a certain sense remote from common observation,
and can be subjected to the rigorous test of sense experiments,
aided by the refined appliances of art. When a few learned
pundits are the only persons who are called to use a technical
and artificial language with one another, and can speedily bring
one another to the book by some decisive example or experiment, there need be no limit to the possibilities or the usefulness
of a special scientific dialect. Neither of these conditions can
be true of the sciences which relate to man's spiritual nature and
their products, various as they are, whether they concern man's
experiences or interests, his rights, his duties, or his hopes. For
all these branches of knowledge there is a common and everyday dialect which with the many is very limited and very indefi
nite, and with the very few is variously extended and more or less
exact. This dialect or terminology for this reason is capable of
easy transitions and ready elasticity as each man attains to more
or fewer of the new thoughts which the unusual but not wholly
technical words express. Hence, every writer who would gain a
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