I “primi passi” della ragione critica nei Träume eines Geistersehers erläutert durch Träume der Metaphysik

The present essay aims to show that in Träume eines Geistersehers, erläu- tert durch Träume der Metaphysik, the distinctive traits of that radical transfor- mation «in the way of thinking» that allows Kant to foreshadow a new, critical metaphysics can be identified. More specifically, this essay will first illustrate how Kant’s engagement with the key questions of rational psychology provides him with the much-desired opportunity to concretely demonstrate the «correct way to proceed» in any metaphysical inquiry. It will then be argued that, in doing so, Kant explicitly prefigures a systematic tension that architectonically combines the dogmatic ambition of a well-founded speculative discipline with the critical need to safeguard the free exercise of human reason in questions that exceed its actual cognitive capacities but concern the genuine interests of the whole humanity.