Kantian Journal

2015 Issue №1(51)

On a review deliberated by Kant and published under the name of Chr. Kraus

Abstract

]his article analyses the circumstances that resulted in the situation when the review of J. A. H. Ulrich’s eleutheriology, which would be published today as a work co-authored by I. Kant and Chr. J. Kraus, was first published under the name of the philosopher’s friend and student and later in collections of Kant’s works.It is shown that the review criticises the naturalism of Unlrich’s theory of freedom and stresses the major reason behind its failure, namely, that its author did not distinguish between the theo-retical and practical functions of consciousness. This circumstance complicates that understanding of that the same act can belong to natural determination in one aspect and free determination in another.It is stressed that the review’s methodology is presented in the analysis of the third antinomy of pure reason in “Chapter II: The antinomy of pure reason” of “Book II: Of the dialectical conclusions of pure reason” and that Kant based his solution to the antinomy on the whole system as a comprehensive philosophical theory

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