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{{Short description|Philosophical movement}}
{{distinguish|Critical theory|Critical thinking}}
{{Immanuel Kant}}
 
'''Critical philosophy''' ({{langx|de|kritische Philosophie}}) is a movement inaugurated by [[Immanuel Kant]] (1724–1804). It is dedicated to the self-examination of reason with the aim of exposing its inherent limitations, that is, to defining the possibilities of knowledge as a prerequisite to advancing to knowledge itself. According to Kant, only after such self-criticism does it become possible to develop metaphysics in a [[dogma|non-dogmatic]] way.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Caygill |first1=Howard |title=A Kant Dictionary |date=1995 |publisher=Blackwell |page=138–39}}</ref>

The three critical texts of the Kantian corpus are the ''[[Critique of Pure Reason]]'', ''[[Critique of Practical Reason]]'' and ''[[Critique of Judgement]]'', published between 1781 and 1790 and primarily concerned, respectively, with [[metaphysics]], [[ethics|morality]], and [[teleology]].

Contemporaries of Kant such as [[Johann Georg Hamann]] and [[Johann Gottfried Herder]] rejected the notion of "pure" reason upon which this project depends. They claim that reason depends upon language, which always introduces historical contingencies.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Caygill |first1=Howard |title=A Kant Dictionary |date=1995 |publisher=Blackwell |page=139}}</ref>

== See also ==
*[[Critical idealism]]
*[[Critical thinking]]
*[[Charles Bernard Renouvier]]
*[[Léon Brunschvicg]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
* ''[[Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy]]'': [http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/kant/ Immanuel Kant]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Critical Philosophy}}
[[Category:Concepts in metaphilosophy]]
[[Category:Kantianism]]

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