the principle of Morals with its basis. I again call attention to what I have already examined at the outset — I mean, the Kantian claim that the principle of Ethics must be purely a priori and purely formal, indeed an a priori synthetical proposition, which consequently may not contain anything material, nor rest upon anything empirical, whether objectively in the external world, or subjectively in consciousness, such as any feeling, inclination, impulse, and the like.

Kant was perfectly aware of the difficulty of this position; for on p. 60 (R., p. 53) he says: “It will be seen that philosophy has here indeed reached a precarious standpoint, which yet is to be immovable, notwithstanding that it is neither dependent on, nor supported by, anything in heaven or on earth.” We shall therefore with