For these give rise to an
inevitable dialectic, in which a thesis and an antithesis set up equal
claims to the validity of two conflicting conditions. Reason is thus
compelled, in its practical function in relation to right- as it was
in its theoretical function- to make a distinction between
possession as a phenomenal appearance presented to the senses, and
that possession which is rational and thinkable only by the
understanding.
Thesis.- The thesis, in this case, is: "It is possible to have
something external as mine, although I am not in possession of it."
Antithesis.- The antithesis is: "It is not possible to have anything
external as mine, if I am not in possession of it."
Solution.- The solution is: "Both Propositions are true"; the former
when I mean empirical possession (possessio phaenomenon), the latter
when I understand by the same term, a purely rational possession
(possessio noumenon).
But the possibility of a rational possession, and consequently of an
external mine and thine, cannot be comprehended by direct insight, but
must be deduced from the practical reason. And in this relation it
is specially noteworthy that the practical reason without
intuitional perceptions, and even without requiring such an element
a priori, can extend its range by the mere elimination of empirical
conditions, as justified by the law of freedom, and can thus establish
synthetical propositions a priori.
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