Section 33
Original German
§ 33.
Es ist in der That mit unseren reinen Verstandesbegriffen etwas Verfängliches in Ansehung der Anlockung zu einem transscendenten Gebrauch; denn so nenne ich denjenigen, der über alle mögliche Erfahrung hinausgeht. Nicht allein daß unsere Begriffe der Substanz, der Kraft, der Handlung, der Realität ꝛc. ganz von der Erfahrung unabhängig sind, imgleichen gar keine Erscheinung der Sinne enthalten, also in der That auf Dinge an sich selbst (noumena) zu gehen scheinen, sondern was diese Vermuthung noch bestärkt, sie enthalten eine Nothwendigkeit der Bestimmung in sich, der die Erfahrung niemals gleich kommt. Der Begriff der Ursache enthält eine Regel, nach der aus einem Zustande ein anderer nothwendiger Weise folgt; aber die Erfahrung kann uns nur zeigen, daß oft, und wenn es hoch kommt, gemeiniglich auf einen Zustand der Dinge ein anderer folge, und kann also weder strenge Allgemeinheit, noch Nothwendigkeit verschaffen ꝛc.
Daher scheinen Verstandesbegriffe viel mehr Bedeutung und Inhalt zu haben, als daß der bloße Erfahrungsgebrauch ihre ganze Bestimmung erschöpfte, und so baut sich der Verstand unvermerkt an das Haus der Erfahrung noch ein viel weitläuftigeres Nebengebäude an, welches er mit lauter Gedankenwesen anfüllt, ohne es einmal zu merken, daß er sich mit seinen sonst richtigen Begriffen über die Grenzen ihres Gebrauchs verstiegen habe.
Musean translation
Mouseia’s complete machine-assisted Musean translation, made directly from the complete German of the Prolegomena (AA IV 253–383, all §§1–60 and the Appendix), for fidelity, the steps of Kant’s argument, clarity and structure.
§ 33.
There is indeed something ensnaring about our pure concepts of the understanding in the way they entice us toward a transcendent use—for that is what I call a use that goes beyond all possible experience. Not only are our concepts of substance, force, action, reality, etc., wholly independent of experience, and likewise contain no appearance of the senses, so that they really seem to concern things in themselves (noumena); but, strengthening this supposition, they contain a necessity of determination that experience can never match. The concept of cause contains a rule according to which one state necessarily follows from another; but experience can show us only that one state of things is followed by another often, or at best usually, and thus can provide neither strict universality nor necessity, etc.
Concepts of the understanding therefore seem to have far more meaning and content than their mere use in experience could exhaust. And so, without noticing it, the understanding adds to the house of experience a much more extensive adjoining structure, which it fills with nothing but beings of thought, without even realizing that, with its otherwise correct concepts, it has ventured beyond the limits of their use.
Plain English translation
Mouseia’s complete Plain English edition, made independently and directly from the same complete German text.
§ 33.
There is indeed something deceptive about our pure concepts of the understanding: they tempt us to a transcendent use. By this I mean a use that goes beyond all possible experience. Our concepts of substance, force, action, reality, and so on are completely independent of experience. They also contain no appearance of the senses at all. So they really do seem to concern things in themselves (noumena). But something else strengthens this supposition: they contain a necessity of determination that experience can never match. The concept of cause contains a rule according to which one state necessarily follows from another. But experience can show us only that one state of things often, or at most usually, follows another. So it can provide neither strict universality nor necessity, and so on.
Concepts of the understanding therefore seem to have much more meaning and content than their mere use in experience could fully account for. So, without noticing it, the understanding adds a much larger annex to the house of experience. It fills this annex with nothing but beings of thought, without even realizing that, with its otherwise correct concepts, it has ventured beyond the limits of their use.
About this section
Section 33 is part of Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics by Immanuel Kant. This page sets the German original beside 2 direct-source translations, so any line can be checked against the source. It is section 40 of 72 in the work, which is kept in the European tradition.
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