Part 269 (1/2)
was published in 1781, and it was followed by the ”Kritic of Practical Reason” in 1788, and the ”Kritic of Judgment” in 1790; his works inaugurate a new era in philosophic speculation, and by the adoption of a critical method dealt a death-blow to speculative dogmatism on the one hand and scepticism on the other; it was, he says, the scepticism of Hume that first broke his dogmatic slumber, so that had Hume not been, he had not been, and the whole course of modern thought different; Kant by his critical method did for philosophy what Copernicus did for astronomy; he centralised the intelligence in the reason or soul, as the latter did the planetary system in the sun; Kant was a lean, little man, of simple habits, and was never wedded (1724-1804).
KAOLIN, a fine white clay, a hydrous silicate of alumina, which does not colour when fired; used in making porcelain; called also China clay.
KAPELLMEISTER, director of an orchestra or choir, more particularly of the band of a German prince.
KAPILA, the founder of the Sankhya system of HINDU PHILOSOPHY (q. v.); was regarded as an incarnation of VISHNU (q. v.).
KARA, a gold-mining district in East Siberia, 300 m. from Chita, of which the mines are the private property of the Czar, and are worked by convicts, who are often disgracefully treated, many of them merely political offenders.
KARA SEA is a portion of the Arctic Sea, on the NE. corner of Russia, between Nova Zembla and the Yalmal; receives the rivers Obi and Yenisei, and is navigable from July to September.
KARAITES, a Jewish sect which originated in the 8th century; adhered to the letter of Scripture and repudiated all tradition; were strict Sabbatarians.
KARAKORUM, a range of the Himalayas, extending from the Hindu-Kush eastward into Thibet, and a pa.s.s in the centre of it 18,000 ft. high.
Also the name of the old capital of Mongolia.
KARAMSIN, a Russian historian; his first work was ”Letters of a Russian Traveller,” in 6 vols., published in 1797-1801, which gained him a high reputation, and it was followed by his ”History of Russia,” in 12 vols., published in 1816-1829, for the materials of which he had access, to the most authentic doc.u.ments as imperial historiographer, an office to which he was appointed in 1803, and the work is a work in the highest repute (1766-1826).
KARIKAL (93), a French possession in India, on the Coromandel coast, 150 m. S. of Madras; rears and exports rice in large quant.i.ties.
KARLI, a famous temple-cave in Bombay Presidency, on the Bombay-Poona road; dates from the 1st century B.C. at latest.
KARMA, the unbroken sequence, according to the Theosophists, of cause and effect, in which every effect is regarded the cause of the next.
KARMAN, the name given in the Brahminical philosophy and in Buddhism to that act of the soul by which, as is conceived, it determines its own destiny, a truly serious conception, and in itself soul affecting.
KARMATHIANS, originally a secret society of the Ismailis, developed into a religious and communistic sect, and waged a great peasants' war under successive leaders between A.D. 900 and 950; Mecca was captured 930; the movement of the Karmathians did much to overthrow the power of the Khalifate.
KARR, JEAN BAPTISTE ALPHONSE, French novelist, born at Paris; entered journalism, became editor of the _Figaro_ 1839, started _Les Guepes_ the same year, retired to Nice 1855, and there died; his chief novel is ”Genevieve,” and best known book, ”Voyage autour de mon Jardin”
(1808-1890).
KARROO, the name of a barren tract of tableland in South Africa with a clay soil, which, however, bursts into gra.s.sy verdure and blossom after rain; the Great Karroo, which is 850 m. long and about 80 m. broad, is 3000 ft. above the sea-level, while the Little Karroo is 1000 ft. lower; large flocks of sheep are pastured on them, and the value of the land has immensely increased within late years.