The critical method in metaphysics is a scientific method, in that it seeks insight that goes beyond, and may contradict, the deliverances of common sense. In the broadest sense, the critical method seeks to determine the bounds of the application of rational principles to the world. In so doing, it exposes the natural, unavoidable errors of reason in its pursuit of metaphysical knowledge of the world.
The critical method is contrasted with the dogmatic and skeptical methods.
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