Formal Logic and Philosophical Logic in Kant and Hegel
- DOI
- 10.5922/0207-6918-2026-1-2
- Pages
- 40-58
Abstract
In § 26 of the Critique of Pure Reason, Kant calls the “Leitfaden” section of the Transcendental Analytic (A 67-79 / B 91-106) “metaphysical deduction” (MD). The MD is a relatively short, but fundamental (and somewhat enigmatic) passage. While contemporary contributions offer detailed reconstructions of the MD, which also help to settle a series of thorny exegetic questions much debated in MD’s classic and current reception, I propose to take a step back and ask about the general setting of the MD, and about its meta-philosophical and metalogical implications. I believe that the question of the role of “formal logic” in philosophy, and in the establishment of a philosophical logic (something which was at the heart of Hegel’s interests in reading these Kantian passages), is at stake here. I begin the paper by examining some controversies concerning the question of the contribution of Kant’s thinking about logic to the history of logic. I then turn to Hegel’s reading of Kant’s thoughts about formal logic and truth (A 57-60 / B 82-84) in the Science of Logic. I conclude by critically assessing Hegel’s critique of Kant’s supposed “formalism”. While Hegel laments Kant’s anti-alethic treatment of the forms of judgement and of the categorial forms, I show how Kant accomplishes, in fact, an important operation of repositioning and rethinking traditional logic; and, in so doing, makes a crucial step towards the establishment of a philosophical logic.
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