Excerpt from The Doctrine of the Transcendent Use of the Principle of Causality in Kant, Herbart and Lotze: A Dissertation to Obtain the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Leipzig Our definite topic is conveyed in the words: The Doctrine of the Transcendent Use of the Principle of Causality in Kant, Herbart and Lotze. The language is from Kant, and is used in the Kantian sense. We are the recipients of sensations and perceptions which con stitute a world of experience within ourselves. All philosophers admit, for some reason satisfactory to themselves, that within this world of experience the principle of causality finds a proper application. But our sensations are not themselves the things which may be supposed to lie at their base as their cause, and the question arises whether we can pass out over the boundaries of this experimental world, and affirm anything by help of our principle of a world beyond. If so, this would be to make a transcendent use of the principle (pure Reason p. It is proposed, then, to examine the systems of these philosophers so far as may be necessary to give a clear view of their opinions upon this subject. We shall ask What they teach, endeavor to find the reasons which they give for their doctrine, compare their views with one another, and endeavor to estimate the positive results gained for philosophical science by the combined labors of the three. In this investigation our attention will be particularly directed to their views in reference to the two topics suggested above, the Ding an sick, to make use of Kant's term or the external cause of our sensations, and God. These will suffice to illustrate the doctrine of the three writers, and afi'ord sufficient materials for criticism. But under the former head one department, that of the soul considered in itself, will be for the most part excluded, as affording nothing for our purpose not gained from the consideration of the material world, and as leading us into too prolonged discussion for our present limits. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.