The
Critique of Pure Reason (,
KrV, in original:
Critik der reinen Vernunft) by
Immanuel Kant, first published in 1781, second edition 1787, is one of the most influential works in the history of
philosophy. Also referred to as Kant's "first critique," it was followed in 1788 by the
Critique of Practical Reason and in 1790 by the
Critique of Judgment. In the preface to the first edition Kant explains what he means by a critique of pure reason: "I do not mean by this a critique of books and systems, but of the faculty of reason in general, in respect of all knowledge after which it may strive
independently of all experience."