12/7/21

While the writings of Immanuel Kant stand at the zenith of philosophical greatness, nobody believes they set the standard for clarity. The unwary reader of Kant finds himself drowning under a tsunami of undefined terms. Survivors often find the same word used differently in a confusing conglomeration of contexts. Untangling the mess takes weeks.

Howard Caygill's _A Kant Dictionary_ greatly diminishes the dimensions of these challenges. The clearly written entries (sometimes a paragraph, sometimes a few pages) explicate many different contexts and meanings. The discussion within the entries frequently situate key ideas within the entire output of Kant, adding considerable value to the dictionary -- one can learn how an idea evolved or get a feel for why its introduction was warranted. Some entries go beyond this and contain historical relationships of an idea with those who came before and after Kant.

What a miracle! Documentation pervades this dictionary, making cross-referencing with Kant's writings extremely easy. The book also includes an essay on Kant by Caygill, a list of works referenced, books recommended for further reading, an index of philosophers, and bringing even more unity to the book -- an index of concepts.

Cliff notes for Kant this book is not. It consolidates Kant's output in a serious and professional way. If one studies or plans to study Kant at *any* level, one will find this book worth every penny.