The concept of body and the problem of demarcation in new European metaphysics: from Descartes to Kant
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Abstract
The formation of science and its separation from metaphysics are among the key characteristics of the early modern period. This separation faces a particular problem with conceptualization of body, which, while being a physical body, is closely bound up with spirit. Different ways of explaining the interaction between mind and body form a complex tradition, which has significantly influenced Kant’s pre-Critical writings. Reducing that crucial distinction between two substances to the empirical sphere and the interpretation of soul and body as homogeneous phenomena are the main peculiarities of Kant’s position.
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