Can Critical Philosophy End the Epistemological Dilemma?: On the Break of Modern Philosophy from Descartes to Kant

Jingxu Zhang

doi:10.47297/wsprolaadWSP2634-786552.20250604

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Can Critical Philosophy End the Epistemological Dilemma?: On the Break of Modern Philosophy from Descartes to Kant

Volume 6, Issue 4

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Can Critical Philosophy End the Epistemological Dilemma?: On the Break of Modern Philosophy from Descartes to Kant
Can Critical Philosophy End the Epistemological Dilemma?: On the Break of Modern Philosophy from Descartes to Kant
Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, Zhejiang, 321004, China
Vol. 6, Issue 4, Pages: 262-267(2025)
Published：30 August 2025
DOI：10.47297/wsprolaadWSP2634-786552.20250604
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Zhang Jingxu.Can Critical Philosophy End the Epistemological Dilemma?: On the Break of Modern Philosophy from Descartes to Kant[J].Research on Literary and Art Development,2025,06(04):262-267.
DOI：

Zhang Jingxu.Can Critical Philosophy End the Epistemological Dilemma?: On the Break of Modern Philosophy from Descartes to Kant[J].Research on Literary and Art Development,2025,06(04):262-267. DOI： 10.47297/wsprolaadWSP2634-786552.20250604.

摘要

Abstract

The core epistemological dilemma in modern philosophical development originated from the "subjectivity turn" established by Descartes. Building upon universal doubt

Descartes established "I think" as the unshakable foundation of knowledge certainty and elevated "reason" to the supreme foundational status. While this turn provided an internal basis for seeking objectivity in knowledge

it also implicitly objectified the world into material and spiritual entities that were mutually independent and non-interacting

forming a sharp dualism. Kant's critical philosophy consciously responded to this dilemma with a pivotal "breakthrough". In his *Critique of Pure Reason*

he proposed the "Copernican revolution"

reversing the traditional epistemological stance of "subject conforming to object" to "object conforming to subject". He advocated actively constructing empirical objects through transcendental cognitive forms rather than passively reflecting objects. At least for phenomenal knowledge

Kant bridged the subject-object divide left by Descartes

laying an effective foundation for the objectivity of scientific knowledge. However

Kant's overall solution gradually slid into agnosticism

with his strict dichotomy between phenomena and noumena fundamentally limiting the scope of human cognition.

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references

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