 The central question that Rickert poses in his The Object of Knowledge, which is the most developed and thorough SW work in the theory of knowledge, is “What is the object of knowledge, which is independent of the subject, or in virtue of what does cognizing achieve objectivity?” (Rickert 1915: 1). In particular, Rickert is concerned with the “transcendence” of the object: that the object is an independent standard for knowledge, that it determines whether knowledge is true or objective. Rickert’s answer to these questions is that the object is a “transcendent ought” [Sollen], and not fundamentally a “transcendent being” [Sein] or “reality” [Wirklichkeit]. This is a distinctive view. It is, of course, a platitude that objects are normative in the sense that our beliefs about an object ought to be true of it. But a common view is that this normativity is derivative: our beliefs about an object ought to be a certain way, because the object itself is a certain way. On this common view, the object’s standing as a “transcendent ought” is grounded in its “transcendent being”. Rickert rejects this view. He argues that the only norms that can be derived from what is [sein], are conditional norms, to the effect that one ought to do such and such if one happens to will a certain thing—norms that are neither objective, nor independent of the subject. Such a view either undermines the theory of knowledge as a normative discipline (and truth as a value), or undermines objectivity (Rickert 1915: 281). Rickert therefore advocates upending the common view. He takes norms of cognition as basic and irreducible, and argues that the transcendent reality of objects is grounded in these irreducible cognitive norms.