The Two Dogmas without Empiricism

Kant Yearbook ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bryan W. Hall
Keyword(s):  
The Other ◽  
Pure Reason ◽  
Critique Of Pure Reason ◽  
Theoretical Domain ◽  
The Third ◽  
New Form ◽  
Web Of Belief ◽  
Meaningful Sentence ◽  
Immediate Experience

AbstractIn Two Dogmas of Empiricism W.V. Quine begins his attack on the analytic/ synthetic dogma by criticizing Immanuel Kant’s conception of analyticity. After dismissing Kant’s interpretation as well as others, he articulates a view of the analytic/synthetic distinction that connects it to the other dogma of empiricism, reductionism. Ultimately, Quine rejects both dogmas in favor of a new form of empiricism which subscribes to neither one. Just as Quine believes it is possible to accept empiricism without the dogmas, I will argue that the Kantian can accept both dogmas while avoiding the forms of empiricism that Quine considers in his article. The paper is broken into four sections. First, I offer a brief overview of the two dogmas and their relationship to one another before examining Quine’s argument against ‘radical reductionism’, i.e., the position that every meaningful sentence is translatable into a sentence about immediate experience that is either true or false. The second section shows how one of Kant’s arguments from the Critique of Pure Reason anticipates the crux of Quine’s argument against radical reductionism. What is left after this argument is only an ’attenuated form’ of reductionism that Quine believes is identical to the analytic/synthetic distinction. In the third section, I explain how Kantians can draw the analytic/ synthetic distinction in a way that is consistent with this attenuated form of reductionism while avoiding the objections that Quine lodges against the two dogmas. I argue that this allows the Kantian to accept the dogmas while avoiding both the radically reductive form of empiricism as well as the form of empiricism that Quine endorses (web-of-belief holism). Finally, I will consider how this Kantian version of the analytic/synthetic distinction can be extended beyond the theoretical domain to practical and aesthetic sentences

scholarly journals The Aspect of Subjectivity in Scientific Thinking—Where Did It Actually Come From?

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sven Hroar Klempe
Keyword(s):  
Modern Philosophy ◽  
Immanuel Kant ◽  
The Other ◽  
Scientific Thinking ◽  
Pure Reason ◽  
Critique Of Pure Reason ◽  
Folk Culture ◽  
The Third ◽  
Copernican Revolution ◽  
Main Figure

Subjectivity has always been a part of philosophical speculations. However, Immanuel Kant is mentioned as the main figure to bring in subjectivity in modern philosophy by comparing the Critique of Pure Reason with the Copernican revolution. We might include Descartes as well, and not least the followers of Kant, like Fichte and Hegel. Yet none of these end up with subjectivity as the only premise for thinking, but rather combine it with objectivity. Hence, subjectivity has appeared as a stranger in philosophy and yet not fully accepted. In this paper, I try to pursue the aspect of subjectivity by not looking at philosophy, but rather at psychology. The appearance of the term can be dated back to 1520 when the Croatian humanist Marcus Marulus published the thesis entitled “Psychology, the Nature of the Soul”. This thesis is lost, but by pursuing the appearance of the term, four different movements seem to contribute with and highlight an aspect of subjectivity. One is Humanism, the other is Reformation, the third is a focus on the empirical aspects of science and the fourth is the dissemination of folk culture to academics and aristocracy by means of the art of printing. The finding, therefore, is that psychology is not to be regarded as a discipline that grows out of philosophy, but rather as a discipline that conflicts philosophy, but nevertheless intervenes it and makes it progress.

Pleasure and Fit in Kant's Aesthetics

1998 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 117-133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth F. Rogerson
Keyword(s):  
Practical Reason ◽  
Scientific Understanding ◽  
The Other ◽  
Pure Reason ◽  
Critique Of Pure Reason ◽  
Empirical Concept ◽  
The Third ◽  
The World ◽  
The Status ◽  
The One

In the third Critique Kant shifts the focus in his enquiry from the status of factual statements in the Critique of Pure Reason and the grounding of moral imperatives in the Critique of Practical Reason to investigating two methods of considering the world which go beyond the strictly verifiable. This is a move from evaluating the interplay of a ‘determinate’ set of facts and intellectual preconditions to forming what Kant calls ‘reflective’ judgements on these facts. There are two major questions which the Critique of Judgement tackles. On the one hand Kant ambitiously considers how we might properly interpret a set of facts as comprising a larger teleological system and, on the other hand, he is interested in the seemingly quite separate issue of the appreciation of objects as beautiful. It is this latter issue which shall concern us here. Consistent with the reflective stand in the third Critique, Kant argues from the very outset that beauty is not an empirical concept with which we might describe the world. Beauty is not objective in the sense that size, colour or weight might be. Objective properties of this kind belong to the world of scientific understanding. Instead, he holds that judgements of aesthetic merit should be based upon the subjective pleasure we take in experiencing works of art and natural objects.

scholarly journals A QUESTÃO DA LIBERDADE PRÁTICA NA CRÍTICA DA RAZÃO PURA

2017 ◽  
Vol 44 (139) ◽  
pp. 193
Author(s):  
Antonio Saturnino Braga
Keyword(s):  
Practical Reason ◽  
The Other ◽  
Pure Reason ◽  
Critique Of Pure Reason ◽  
The Third ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Legislative Activity

Resumo: Este artigo tem três objetivos inter-relacionados. Em primeiro lugar, defender uma interpretação compatibilista da noção de liberdade prática exposta no capítulo do Cânone da Crítica da Razão Pura. Em segundo lugar, defender a hipótese de que a noção incompatibilista de liberdade prática exposta no capítulo das Antinomias da mesma Crítica incorre em sérios problemas. Por fim, defenderemos uma hipótese mais abrangente: se por um lado, para evitar os problemas suscitados pela interpretação incompatibilista, a liberdade prática deve ser interpretada num sentido compatibilista, para ser interpretada deste modo ela precisa por outro lado ser compreendida como propriedade da atividade deliberativa da razão prática, essencialmente distinta da atividade legislativa, à qual cabe a noção incompatibilista da liberdade transcendental.Abstract: This paper has three interrelated aims. The first defends a compatibilist interpretation of the concept of practical freedom presented in the Canon chapter of the Critique of Pure Reason. The second defends the hypothesis that the incompatibilist concept of practical freedom, presented in the Antinomies chapter of the same Critique, involves serious problems. Finally, the third defends a more comprehensive hypothesis: If, to avoid the serious problems created by the incompatibilist interpretation, practical freedom must be interpreted in a compatibilist way, on the other hand, to be interpreted in this way, practical freedom must be understood as a property of the deliberative activity of practical reason. The latter being essentially distinct from legislative activity, to which the incompatibilist concept of transcendental freedom applies.

scholarly journals Transcendental Philosophy as a Research Programme

2021 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 93-126
Author(s):  
Michael Lewin
Keyword(s):  
Research Programme ◽  
Transcendental Philosophy ◽  
Pure Reason ◽  
Critique Of Pure Reason ◽  
The Third ◽  
Definite Form ◽  
Historical Investigation ◽  
Clear Idea ◽  
Different Levels ◽  
Insight Into

Transcendental philosophy was not born like Athena out of Zeus’s head, mature and in full armour from the very beginning. That is why in both prefaces to the Critique of Pure Reason (1781 and 1787) Kant introduces the concept of transcendental philosophy as an “idea.” The idea understood architectonically develops slowly and only gradually acquires a definite form. As witnessed by the works of Kant himself and of his predecessors and followers, the idea of transcendental philosophy has undergone a series of changes and adjustments compared to the initial plan. In this context, my goal is not simply exegesis and historical investigation of transcendental philosophy, but also to look at it from a systematic and methodological perspective. I examine the concept of transcendental philosophy from the viewpoint of programmatic metaphilosophy. The first part discusses programmatics as a distinct subsection of metaphilosophy. I argue that Kant’s architectonic methodology and the methodology of Lakatos can be used to understand the inception, development and degradation of philosophical systems. In the second part I look at the project of transcendental philosophy and the stages of its development from the standpoint of architectonics. The third part shows that Lakatos’s methodology can provide a detailed insight into the elements of transcendental philosophy, a clear idea of its logic and identify the component parts that can be improved and developed. In spite of the different levels of detailing and epistemological prerequisites, the methodologies of Kant and Lakatos can be combined to achieve a metaphilosophically informed and progressive understanding of philosophical projects.

Kant and the Art of Schematism

2014 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 181-205 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samantha Matherne
Keyword(s):  
Valuable Insight ◽  
Pure Reason ◽  
Human Soul ◽  
Critique Of Pure Reason ◽  
Critique Of Judgment ◽  
The Third ◽  
Insight Into

AbstractIn theCritique of Pure Reason, Kant describes schematism as a ‘hidden art in the depths of the human soul’ (A141/B180–1). While most commentators treat this as Kant's metaphorical way of saying schematism is something too obscure to explain, I argue that we should follow up Kant's clue and treat schematism literally asKunst. By letting our interpretation of schematism be guided by Kant's theoretically exact ways of using the termKunstin theCritique of Judgmentwe gain valuable insight into the nature of schematism, as well as its connection to Kant's concerns in the thirdCritique.

scholarly journals Sobre la imaginación productiva en la Crítica de la Razón Pura

2017 ◽  
pp. 133
Author(s):  
Diego Sanhueza
Keyword(s):  
The Other ◽  
Pure Reason ◽  
Critique Of Pure Reason

Resumen:En este escrito se analizan los elementos de una teoría de la imaginación en la Crítica de la Razón Pura de Kant. La gran novedad del tratamiento que Kant le da a la imaginación consiste en postular la existencia de una imaginación productiva, es decir, una imaginación que es anterior y que está en la base de la imaginación empírica. En este artículo, se realiza este análisis en dos pasos: en primer lugar, se examina el significado dela noción de “imaginación”, distinguiéndola de las otras facultades (sen- sibilidad y entendimiento); en segundo lugar, se distinguen dos niveles en la imaginación misma, uno reproductivo y otro productivo.Palabras Clave: Imaginación - Síntesis - Producción - Percepción - ConceptoAbstract:In this paper, the elements of a theory of imagination are analyzed in Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason. The great innovation of Kant’s treatment of imagination consists in proposing the existence of a productive imagi- nation, that is, an imagination which is prior and is at the basis of the empirical imagination. This article carries out the analysis in two steps: firstly, it reviews the meaning of the notion of “imagination”, distinguish - ing it from the other faculties (sensitivity and understanding); secondly, two levels are distinguished in the imagination itself, one reproductive and another productive.Keywords: Imagination - synthesis - production - perception – conceptResumo:Neste escrito, analisam-se os elementos de uma teoria da imaginação na Crítica da Razão Pura de Kant. A grande novidade do tratamento que Kant dá a imaginação é postular a existência de uma imaginação produtiva, ou seja, uma imaginação que é anterior e se encontra na base da imagi- nação empírica. Neste artigo, se realiza esta análise em duas etapas: em primeiro lugar, examina-se o significado do conceito de “imaginação”, distinguindo-a de outras faculdades (sensibilidade e entendimento); em segundo lugar, se distinguem dois níveis na imaginação mesma, um reprodutivo e outro produtivo.Palavras-chave: Imaginação - síntese - produção - percepção - conceito.

The Paradoxes of Kant's Ethics

Philosophy ◽  
1938 ◽  
Vol 13 (49) ◽  
pp. 40-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. C. Ewing
Keyword(s):  
Pure Reason ◽  
Critique Of Pure Reason ◽  
General Philosophy ◽  
The Third ◽  
Metaphysical Problem ◽  
Kant's Ethics

Nobody interested in philosophy need be deterred by Kant's reputation for difficulty from familiarizing himself with his ethics. While the Critique of Pure Reason and his other non-ethical works are very hard to follow, the first two chapters of the Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Morals at least are clear and straightforward and presuppose little previous acquaintance with philosophy. The third chapter is not about ethics as such but about the metaphysical problem of freedom and should be omitted by anyone who is not familiar with Kant's general philosophy, but the first two

God and the Structure of the Transcendental Dialectic: On Willaschek’s Kant on the Sources of Metaphysics

2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 267-277 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Guyer
Keyword(s):  
Pure Reason ◽  
Critique Of Pure Reason ◽  
Cambridge University ◽  
The Third ◽  
Idea Of God

AbstractMarcus Willaschek’s new book Kant on the Sources of Metaphysics: The Dialectic of Pure Reason (Cambridge University Press, 2018) is a penetrating analysis of the Transcendental Dialectic of Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason. In his comments, the author first raises some questions concerning the structure of the Transcendental Dialectic (and Willaschek’s reconstruction of it) and then proposes that looking at the second Critique and continuing on into the third Critique will reveal more roles for the idea of God in Kant’s reconstruction of traditional metaphysics than Willaschek’s treatment suggests.

For the Love of Metaphysics

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karin Nisenbaum
Keyword(s):  
German Idealism ◽  
Natural World ◽  
Pure Reason ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Critique Of Pure Reason ◽  
Critical Philosophy ◽  
Human Reason ◽  
The Third ◽  
Irreducible Elements ◽  
Temporal Dimensions

In his Critique of Pure Reason, Kant argued that human reason is inherently conflicted, because it demands a form of unconditioned knowledge that transcends its capacity; his solution to this conflict of reason relies on the idea that reason’s quest for the unconditioned can only be realized practically. This book proposes to view the conflict of reason, and Kant’s solution to this conflict, as the central problem shaping the contours of post-Kantian German Idealism. I contend that the rise and fall of German Idealism is to be told as a story about the different interpretations, appropriations, and radicalization of Kant’s prioritizing of the practical. The first part of the book explains why Kant’s critics and followers came to understand the aim of Kant’s critical philosophy in light of the conflict of reason. I argue that F. H. Jacobi and Salomon Maimon set the stage for the reception of Kant’s critical philosophy by conceiving its aim in terms of meeting reason’s demand for unconditioned knowledge, and by understanding the conflict of reason as a conflict between thinking and acting, or knowing and willing. The manner in which the post-Kantian German Idealists radicalized Kant’s prioritizing of the practical is the central topic of the second part of the book, which focuses on works by J. G. Fichte and F. W. J. Schelling. The third part of the book clarifies why, in order to solve the conflict of reason, Schelling and Rosenzweig developed the view that human experience is grounded in three irreducible elements—God, the natural world, and human beings—which relate in three temporal dimensions: Creation, Revelation, and Redemption.

Kant, Intervention and the ‘Failed State’

1998 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 91-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
Georg Cavallar ◽  
August Reinisch
Keyword(s):  
Political Philosophy ◽  
The Other ◽  
Practical Philosophy ◽  
Main Task ◽  
Pure Reason ◽  
Critique Of Pure Reason ◽  
Failed State ◽  
Important Development ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Political Works

Nowadays Kant's practical philosophy (including his political philosophy) is as highly regarded as his theoretical philosophy. This is an important development since the more constructive side of Kant's philosophy is to be found in his moral and political works. The main task of the Critique of Pure Reason is to clarify its concepts and to get rid of basic errors, and thus only ‘negative’. The moral and political writings, on the other hand, try to expand the scope of reason ‘for practical purposes’ (‘in praktischer Absicht’). Establishing principles of moral and political conduct, their main objective is not negative, but constructive.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document