This course is an in-depth study of the “Refutation of Idealism” in Immanuel Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason. Kant was determined not to be characterized as a subjective or productive idealist. This meant 11 that he had to uphold a robust and direct realism while maintaining that whatever was given to us in experience could only be understood through the peculiar a priori structure of the human mind. Reconciling Kant’s empirical realism with his transcendental idealism has been a longstanding effort of several centuries of commentary on his philosophy. The broader philosophical arguments of the “Refutation of Idealism” lead Kant to conclude that outer appearances must exist indubitably. Seminarians will be guided to an appreciation of the fundamental problems of critical idealism in the Critique of Pure Reason through a broad consideration of the Transcendental Aesthetic, Analytic, and Dialectic. The seminar will then focus on the unique status of the “Refutation of Idealism” in the Kantian corpus. The primary teaching approach for this course is lecture based. Students will be expected to do class presentations and submit a final paper at the end of the semester. At the end of the course, students should be able to identify a cluster of problems with respect to the status of outer objects, to evaluate Kant’s arguments for the indubitability of outer appearances, and to appreciate why the critical philosophy must avoid transcendental realism. Students are expected to demonstrate their abilities to engage with Kant’s critical idealism by means of seminar presentations, dialogue, and the submission of written work.