Immanuel Kant's doctrine of transcendental idealism holds that all we can know about external things resides in their appearances as they are presented to us and influence our sensibilities. Initially, this may seem like the same principle found in traditional idealism. However, unlike traditional idealists, Kant does not deny the existence of external things. He believes that these objects are indeed real. However, we cannot know anything about their existence independently of us, about how they can truly be in themselves; we can only know their appearances, which are represented in us (Kant 40). The heart of the difference between Kant's transcendental idealism and George Berkeley's traditional idealism can be found in their view of space and time. Berkeley groups range with experience. He sees it as purely empirical, existing only in the world we perceive and know ourselves purely through experience (Kant 126). Kant, on the other hand, attributes space and time as a priori forms of pure intuition found within us, which enable our perception of things, thus creating their appearances (Kant 35). By first understanding Kant's proof that space and time are a priori intuitions and how they relate to his distinction between appearances and things in themselves, we can proceed to compare his views with those of Berkeley. When understanding their contrasting philosophies, it becomes clear that Kant's transcendental idealism is not only opposed to Berkeley's traditional idealism, but, in Kant's words, also turns out to be its "appropriate antidote" (Kant 44). Kant argues that space and time are a priori intuitions that we possess and bring to objects to make their appearances possible (Kant 35). Space is not... a medium of paper... they are their appearances and correspond to our conception of them. This distinction, that the objects underlying appearances exist, opposes the pure illusory nature of appearances in traditional idealism and provides its "antidote" by allowing for truth in experience. Works Cited Guyer, Paul. "Kant, Emmanuel." Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy. London, 29 February 2004. .Kant, Immanuel. Prolegomena to any future metaphysics with selections from the critique of pure reason. Ed. Gary Hatfield. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2004.Perri, Jon. Blog post "Mathematics as a response to empiricism". Revolutions in modern philosophy. September 11, 2001. philo218fall2011.blogspot.com. October 22, 2011. < http://philo218fall2011.blogspot.com/2011/09/kants-analysis-of-pure-mathematics-in.html>.