There is a scene in the film Superman III in which Lorelei Ambrosia, the blonde bombshell, is secretly reading the Critique of Pure Reason. »But how can he say that pure categories have no objective meaning in transcendental logic? What about synthetic unity?« she squeaks, before hurriedly hiding the book and picking up a trashy magazine as her gangster boss enters. The director's choice of book was perfect: no other single work could be so improbable, and so easily recognizable as such by the audience. You might just take Bertrand Russell on a beach holiday, as I once did; but Kant, never. (Incidentally, although she has not quite mastered the jargon, Lorelei's question is a good one.)
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