System of Transcendental Idealism

degree of clarity. The proof for the equal reality of both sciences from a theoretical standpoint—which the author has until now only asserted—is therefore to be found in Transcendental Philosophy; the study of the necessary conditions for experience and knowledge, and specifically in the representation of it contained in the present work. This work is therefore to be regarded as a necessary counterpart to his writings on the Philosophy of Nature; "Naturphilosophie," a philosophical movement that views nature as a living, self-organizing whole rather than a dead machine.

For it becomes clear through this very work that the same potencies; levels of power or stages of development (Potenzen) of intuition; the mind’s immediate, direct perception of an object (Anschauung) that exist within the I; the conscious self or the subjective mind (Ich) can also be demonstrated within Nature up to a certain limit. And, since that limit is precisely the boundary between theoretical philosophy; the study of what is and practical philosophy; the study of what ought to be, such as ethics and will, it is therefore a matter of indifference for purely theoretical consideration whether one makes the Objective; the external world of things or the Subjective; the internal world of the mind the primary starting point. This is because regarding the latter, only practical philosophy (which has no voice at all in theoretical consideration) can decide. Consequently, Idealism; the philosophy that reality is fundamentally mental or spiritual also possesses no purely theoretical foundation
The sentence ends abruptly and continues on the following page; it likely concludes by stating that idealism's foundation is ultimately practical or rooted in the will.