The two essays included in this volume belong to the second phase of the pre-critical period, during which Kant gradually distances himself from dogmatic rationalism.

Starting from the different forms of aesthetic experience and education that define internal experience, tracing the aesthetic imprint of moral virtues and the emotions that correspond to each human disposition, and outlining the characteristics of the two sexes and national characters, the Observations is a witty essay that attempts a factual approach to the relationship between ethics and aesthetics, serving as a prelude to Kant's Anthropology.

By defining the distinction between logical and real opposition, in which negative quantities do not signify a particular kind of things concerning their internal nature, Kant will extend the application of the concept of negative quantity to the objects of theoretical and practical philosophy, systematically capturing the gap between logical necessity and reality, and methodically preparing the conclusion of his second essay: the challenge to logical rationalism.