System of Transcendental Idealism

The System of Transcendental Idealism, developed by Immanuel Kant, suggests that we can only know things as they appear to us through our senses and mental frameworks, not as they are in themselves. It distinguishes between phenomena (our sensory experience) and noumena (things-in-themselves, beyond perception). Kant argues that our mind actively shapes experiences via concepts like space, time, and causality, which means reality is understood through our perceptual lens. Thus, while we can study and understand how we experience the world, the actual nature of things behind our perceptions remains ultimately unknowable.