METAPHYSICS. 
upoft, or influenced by the Phenomenon in time and 
fpace. When his moral part is contemplated feparately, 
he muft therefore be confidered free from the laws which 
the phenomena are conftrained to obey j Hill, however, 
he is bound down to the laws of his own Practical 
Reason. He is clearly confcious to himfelf, that he ought 
to obey the Moral Law, quite difintereftedly, and for its 
oun fake. And, notwithftanding his inclinations ihould 
tempt him to difobedience, ft ill he muft feel that he pofi- 
fefl'es full power to fupprefs their efforts, and to obey the 
Law. Indeed, no Idea elevates the Human Soul, and 
Animates it, more than that of a pure moral fentiment, 
revering duty above every thing, ftruggling with the innu¬ 
merable evils of life, and with its feducing allurements, 
but yet overcoming them all. The conviction that Man 
can do this, from the confcioufnefs that he ought, opens 
in him a depth of godlike predifpofitions, which make 
him feel, as it were, a folemn fhuddering, and lead him to 
refleft on the grandeur and fublimity of his real deftina- 
tion. Were he frequently made attentive to this, and 
accuftomed in general to difburthen Virtue of all the ad¬ 
vantages that may be obtained from the obfervance of 
Duty ; were he thus to reprefent Virtue to himfelf in its 
whole purity ; and were this made a principle in the pub¬ 
lic inftrudion of the rifing generation ; the Morality of 
Man would loon be on a better footing. 
But how can this happy reformation in the morals of 
mankind be hoped for, while the arguments of the ne- 
ceflitarian ftill hold fway, and fetter the freedom of the 
will with their undue authority. Let us now examine in 
what this liitherto-impregnable argument conlifts, and 
enquire why it ftill maintains its ground. The truth is, 
it is nothing but a logical illufion, and maybe removed by 
paying due attention to what has fo happily refulted from 
the accurate analyfls of the mental Faculties in the 
Science called Transcendental Philosophy. See 
vol. xi. p. 622. 
Man, as we have already ftated, conflfts of two parts; the 
one Animal or Senjible, and the other Rational or Supcrjen- 
J'tble. When his animal nature is under contemplation, he 
is confidered as homo phcenomcnon, or as a part of the gene¬ 
ral fyftem of Nature, and confequently l'ubjed to the laws 
of Nature, among which that of Cause and Effect holds a 
moft diftinguilhed rank. Here indeed the neceflitarian has 
fi ftrong ground for the fupport of his arguments; for who 
can interrupt or impede the feries of Causes and Effects 
by which alone Nature fublifts, or who can aflert his inde¬ 
pendence of them ? Were the neceflitarian content to re¬ 
main with the contemplation of Nature, nothing could 
ever difturb him in the quiet pofleflion of his pofitions. 
But unfortunately he attempted to carry his invincible 
argument into another fphere, and to become omnipotent 
in his decifions ; in this, however, he completely fails. 
How could it happen otherwife ? Until the happy difeo- 
very of Transcendental Philosophy, in which all the 
mental Phenomena are determined, and each of them has 
its proper place afiigned to it, all attempts to dabble in 
Metaphyfics could end in nothing but trifling and lofs of 
time. The neceflitarian, not content to confine his {pe¬ 
culations to Nature and her phenomena, ventured to carry 
them into the fphere of Reason. Now, nothing can be 
more evident than that Reafon is a Power which ads free 
from Time and Space, to which latter the Phenomena of 
Nature are ftridiy confined. How then can that confti- 
tuent part of the intellect, the Category of Cause and 
Effect, have any influence in the fphere of Reafon? 
It certainly can only act where Time is ; for, in order 
that the Caufe ihould precede the Effed,Time is requifite. 
Now a Caufe muft always reiide in feme lubftance which 
neceflarily occupies Space ; but within the fphere of Rea- 
ion, Which is free from ail the Phenomena of Nature, 
Man, confidered as a Rational Being, or Homo noum'enon, 
is perfediy independent of the law of Nature, Caufe and 
Tiffed, and entirely free from all the phenomena that 
conftitute nature. This independence js fiecured to kina 
109 
by the Category of Moral Liberty, formed by his 
Practical Reason ; for, among the Changeable Pheno¬ 
menon of Nature, his Soul does not reiide. It muft 
therefore be evident how futile and ineffedual is the 
proud argument of the neceflitarian, and how glaringly 
abfurd the attempt to eitabliih a law in a fphere unfit for 
its operation. Thus falls for ever this Angular illufion, 
but not without a lading benefit to mankind ; namely, 
The firm eftablifhment of the Freedom of the Human 
Will. 
Morality being thus freed for ever from the injurious 
influence of the arguments of the Neceflitarian, there re¬ 
mains nothing now to obftrud or retard the eftabliihment 
of the moral and religious principles founded upon the 
1'ublimeTcience of Transcendental Philosophy. And, 
having thus cleared the way, it is eafy now to lhow the 
ground on which True Morality ftands. The fphere 
of Reafon is quite independent of that of Nature ; or, in 
other words, the Homo Noumenon muft be confidered as a 
diftind being from the Homo Phcenomcnon. Though all 
his adions are at prej’eut brought into play only as pheno¬ 
mena ; yet, when morally confidered, the phenomena do 
not neceflarily determine him to adion, fince they cannot 
pofiibly have any influence upon the Homo Noumenon, 
who occupies a ftation fo elevated and pure, that the phe¬ 
nomena which are ftridiy confined to Time and Space 
never can approach, much lefs influence, him. Hence all 
Morality 1'prings from Pure Practical Reason ; and it- 
is in the dilledion and inveftigation of this faculty, that 
the laws of Morality and Religion muft be difeovered. 
What rack or torture impoi'ed by the miftaken zealot in 
religion, can compel the virtuous man to falfify his con¬ 
fidence. None! He is proudly confcious of a powef 
within him, far beyond the reach of all earthly efforts. 
Itis indeed a heavenly power, which fiupports him through 
all his affliding trials ; and, ihould he even expire und^r 
the extremity of his tortures, ftill he will exclaim with his 
dying breath, “ There is another and a better world /” And 
indeed what have his enemies done ? They have driven 
him out of Time and Space, but certainly they have not 
annihilated him. No ; his pure, his moral part, was never 
within their grafp. All that can be laid is, that the home 
phenomenon has undergone a change, but not that the 
homo noumenon is thereby become extind. 
Transcendental Philosophy has proved that the 
Laws of Morality are to be fought for no-where elfe but in 
the Faculty of Reason ; and, indeed, in this purity of their 
origin lies their very dignity, and their title to be confu 
dered as the higheft pradical principles. For the moral 
law's are binding, not upon the human fpecies alone, but 
they muft be held valid univerfally for all beings of a 
rational nature. In this fcience are to be met with the 
conceptions of Good and Bad, our Idea of God, and th« 
whole train of moral ideas fo neceflary for our condud: 
in this life : ideas which at once point out and ur^e th* 
neceflity of a Metaphyjic able to inveftigate and purify 
them from every thing empirical. For Morality com. 
mands every Man, without regarding his inclinations, to 
obey its laws, merely becaufe he is free, and polleHes that 
Practical Reason wherein thele laws are generated. 
It is thus that Reafon commands how we ought to ad, 
though no example of fuch adions might ever yet have 
been met w'ith in experience! Hence arifies the concep¬ 
tion of Duty, which is the objective necejftty of an adion 
conformable to the law of pradical Reafon. And the 
only moral Jpring for the fulfilment of our Dutv is Reve¬ 
rence for the law oj which toe ourfelves are the authors. 
Thus Man affumes to himfelf a Will fo pure, that it 
allows nothing that fprings from the inclinations to be 
placed to its account. Indeed fuch adions alone are ap¬ 
proved of by Reafon as are performed quite difintereft¬ 
edly ; that is, by flighting all fenlitive excitements; and 
thefe are not only poflible, but neceflary. Mam is riot 
accountable for having defires and inftinds, becaufe that 
is a part of hit nature; but he moft certainly is accounc- 
aUiS 
