To what extent is the first Critique continuous with the early writings? To what extent discontinuous? Neither question has, in my view, been adequately discussed. The impression derived from the manifold studies that have been published is that the Critique is, if at all related to the early work, related as supplementing, integrating, and, above all, finding the terminology in which to wrap up the themes that had been working themselves out independently of one another in the earlier essays. Attention to the history of each of Kant's many dichotomies and trichotomies, while valuable, has tended to obscure the over-all shape of his work. The brevity demanded of this paper makes it a good opportunity for sketching a line of approach to these questions which should show its fruitfulness for challenging dogmas of Kantian criticism.