Lecture
In the structure of the world there are special “intelligible” (apprehensible by reason) objects (dimensions). Their characteristics are:
a) they present themselves to the human being directly;
b) they are ascertained in experience;
c) they are irreducible images of wholenesses, as it were designs or projects of development.
The force of this principle lies in the fact that it points to the conditions under which a finite being (a human being), existing in space and time, can meaningfully perform, in experience, acts of cognition, moral action, and evaluation, and can derive satisfaction from seeking. And so, the principle of the second “K” asserts: meaningfully, since there exist special “intelligible objects” in the structure of the world itself, which guarantee this right and this meaningfulness.
Kant’s principle, which is connected with the concept of "intelligible" objects (or "objects apprehensible by reason"), is a key part of Kantian philosophy and of his critique of empiricism and dogmatic rationalism. This principle expresses the idea that there exist boundaries to human cognition and certain aspects of reality that are not accessible to sensory experience but can be apprehended only by reason. Here is a more detailed explanation of this principle:
Sensory experience and a priori knowledge: Kant divided cognition into two basic types: sensory experience (a posteriori knowledge) and a priori knowledge. Sensory experience is based on our senses and our experience of the world through sensory perception. A priori knowledge, according to Kant, does not depend on the senses and is innate to the human being.
Intelligible objects: According to Kant, intelligible objects are objects that cannot be perceived by the senses or by sensory experience, but which are accessible only to reason. These objects lie beyond the bounds of sensory experience and belong to the realm of "things in themselves" (Dinge an sich) or "noumenal reality." They represent abstract ideas or concepts, such as the absolute, the infinite, and the moral good.
The limitations of sensory experience: Kant maintained that our capacity for cognition is limited by the structure of our consciousness and sensory organs. Sensory experience is limited by space and time, and we cannot know the absolute reality of things in themselves through the senses.
The importance of reason: Kant attached great importance to reason and to a priori concepts, which furnish us with knowledge of "intelligible" objects. This a priori framework includes categories of concepts such as space, time, causality, and others. He held that only through reason can we understand and evaluate moral ideas and principles, such as the categorical imperative.
Thoughts, too, are real empirical phenomena; just as real phenomena, or their totality, obey the law of intelligibility, so too does a totality of thoughts obey the law of intelligibility — that is, if I, without changing ad hoc (by the way) any given principle of explanation, can understand, without falling into contradiction with myself, and can place in their rational position entirely different thoughts of Kant, and they do not fall apart in my mind into a heap of rubbish but remain a cosmos, a harmony, then the understanding is correct. So, then, what is the condition for the meaningfulness of the world, for the cognition of this world? 1 Before Kant it was held that our cognition must conform to our objects. Kant’s “Copernican revolution” consists in the hypothesis: objects conform to our mode of cognition. Thinking is constitutive of its objects. It creates them by cognizing them
First, the thoughts themselves, and their totality, are empirical facts.
Second, we can verify our understanding by measuring the extent to which these thoughts are brought into an intelligible connection, are put in their proper place, do not fall apart, and can hold together. Third, the joint existence of thoughts does not require, for every case, heterogeneous hypotheses or a change of them.
Kant’s principle concerning "intelligible" objects advances the idea of two worlds: the world of appearances (the world of sensory experience) and the world of things in themselves (the world of "intelligible" objects). This principle had an enormous influence on philosophy and science, emphasizing the limits of our cognition and the importance of reason in the analysis and understanding of the world.
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