ABSTRACT
The claim that Kant’s idealism, or at least certain strands of it. is essentially identical to that of Berkeley has a long and distinguished history. It was first voiced by several of Kant’s contemporaries sucn as Mendelssohn. Herder. Hamann. Pistorius and Ebcrhard who attacked the alleged subjectivism of the Critique of Pure Reason. 1 This viewpoint found its sharpest contemporary expression in the notorious Garve-Feder review to which Kant responded at length in the Prolegomena. In subsequent times it has been championed by Schopenhauer, and most nineteenth century German commentators on the relation between the two philosophers. 2 In addition, it has been, and continues to be. the prevailing view of the vast majority of British writers on Kant, including, with significant qualifications. Norman Kemp Smith. 3
