The Small Print

A while ago, a friend gave me a copy of The Neo-Kantian Reader. As time allows, I have been reading in it. Of the neo-Kantians included, some were only names to me: Hermann Cohen, Ernst Cassirer, Wilhelm Windelband, Hans Vaihinger. Others--Lask, Lotze, Natorp, etc.--I don't remember ever hearing of. It is only in the "responses" section where more familiar names come in. So far as I have read, it is most informative.However, it is slow going. The matter is complicated, as you would suppose. I hesitate to judge, based on the little reading I have done, but suspect that the neo-Kantians may be harder to read than Kant himself. Some of that may owe to more familiarity with Kant.One extraneous factor is the print. As far as I can tell, The Neo-Kantian Reader is set in 9-point type, in lines about 4.8" wide. My copy of The Critique of Pure Reason appears to be in 10 or 11-point type, and has lines 4" wide, which was pretty standard for hardbacks and quality paperbacks of that day. The…