This is a solid introduction to Kant's epistemology and metaphysics. Dicker lays out the main arguments of the "Transcedental Analytic" with admirable clarity and rigor, borrowing from and modifying earlier interpreters such as Guyer, Strawson, and Wollf. Potential buyers should know that the style of the book--as the subtitle suggests--is heavily analytic. It is advertised as appropriate for "first-time readers of Kant," but this is true only for those readers who already have quite a bit of analytic philosophy under their belts. Other readers will not have the patience to slog through reconstructions of Kant's arguments that take the form of long 'proofs' with numbered premises and conclusions (plus some elementary symbolic notation). There's no way around this. The style is unapologetically academic. For readers used to this sort of approach, Dicker is an exceptionally clear and straightforward writer. He pursues Kant's arguments with remarkable tenacity, and offers very thorough reconstructions of some of the first Critique's most central lines of thought. Two kinds of reader will probably find this book most helpful: those with background in analytic philosophy who are looking to deepen their understanding of Kant's work, but lack the patience for the secondary literature and scholarly commentaries; and those looking to get a better grip on, not just Kant, but the way he's read by commentators such as Guyer and Strawson. Dicker's reconstruction of the main line of thought about Kant's conception of objectivity from "The Bounds of Sense," for example, is great. In general, the patience he displays in going through the main arguments of the Deduction and the Analogies of Experience will make it rewarding even for readers who've been through this stuff many times over.

Potential buyers should be aware that this is not a comprehensive commentary on either the first Critique or Kant's work as a whole. Dicker spends very little time on either Kant's development as a thinker or the historical background of his work. For a more comprehensive commentary, check out Gardner. Readers without the background in analytic philosophy will also find that text much more accessible.

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