Ideal of Reason
Ideal of Reason
(Ger. Ideal der Vernunft) KantThe idea of an all-comprehending reality, God, containing the determination of all finite existence. In the Cr. of Pure Reason Kant shows how and why the mind hypostatizes this Ideal, the source of “transcendental illusion” (q.v.). He concluded that while the traditional proofs of God’s existence were all fallacious, the idea of God had a regulative use for reason, and was a necessary postulate for practical reason (q.v.). See Kantianism. — O.F.K.