By claiming that space is empirically real and transcendentally ideal, Kant rejects both the Newtonian and Leibnizian metaphysical
views, though, to be sure, he also finds a median between them. In the preface to the "Critique of Pure Reason," Kant asks, "How are synthetic judgments a priori possible?" To show that they are, he cites pure mathematics and pure natural science as 'progressive' exemplars. Kant plans to show that these judgments are possible, in part, because of the pure forms of intuition, namely, space and time. In this paper, the writer gives a detailed examination and critique of his main arguments to this effect, principally with reference to H. Allison's excellent commentary, "Kant's
Transcendental Idealism."