Reason and Language in Kant and Hamann

Abstract This paper focuses on the critical relation of reason and language in the work of Kant and Hamann. The biographical and intellectual relationship between Kant and Hamann is briefly outlined. The focus then shifts to Hamann’s essay ‘The Metacritique on the Purism of Reason’. The central themes of Hamann’s essay are unpacked. The discussion then considers the central, if ambiguous, role played by Hume in the whole Kant/Hamann debate. The discussion then moves to Hamann’s critique of transcendental idealism and finally to Kant and the question of language.