Kant’s transcendentalism and concept of the thing in itself
This article analyses Kant’s transcendental philosophy (transcendentalism) and its central concept — the thing in itself is the kind of concept without which it is impossible to enter Kant’s philosophy (a paraphrase of Jacobi’s maxim). Methodologically, transcendentalism implies a transcendental turn from studying [empirical] objects to analysing the [transcendental] conditions of their cognition. Metaphysically, Kant’s transcendentalism rests on the crucial distinction between the thing in itself...
A transcendental analysis of mathematics: The abstract nature of mathematical knowledge
Kant’s transcendental philosophy (transcendentalism) focuses on both the human method of cognition in general [CPR, B25] and certain types of cognition aimed at justifying their objective significance. This article aims to explicate Kant’s understanding (resp. justification) of the abstract nature of mathematical knowledge (cognition) as the “construction of concepts in intuition” (see: “to construct a concept means to exhibit a priori the intuition corresponding to it”; [CPR, A713/В 741], which...
The Paradox of Kant’s Transcendental Subject in German Philosophy in the Late Eighteenth Century
The study of the “first wave” of reactions to the Critique of Pure Reason in Germany from the second half of the 1780s until the beginning of the nineteenth century reveals the paradoxical status of the Kantian transcendental subject. While the existence of the transcendental subject, whatever the term means, is not open to question since it arises from the very essence of critical philosophy, the fundamental status of the subject is sometimes questioned in this period. Although the meaning of the...
The Transcendental Deduction of Categories as Philosophical Proof
My aim is to reconstruct the basic steps and the fundamental idea of Kant’s transcendental deduction of categories as well as Hegel’s interpretation and reframing of Kant’s idea. Hegel’s reading is crucial for two reasons: first, for fixing the basic form of the Kantian argument and secondly, for understanding its metaphilosophical relevance. For Hegel, philosophical proof has a specific nature, which distinguishes it from scientific proof and brings it closer to a juridical one. In this perspective...
Transzendentalphilosophie als kritische Bestimmung des Standpunkts. Eine wissenschaftstheoretische Annäherung
Both the categories and principles of understanding as well as the ideas and principles of reason build transcendental elements to conceive transcendental philosophy as a philosophical system. Accordingly, in addition to the “Transcendental Analytic”, Kant develops in the “Transcendental Dialectic” an expanded concept of the transcendental. The transcendental ideas do not denote object-constitutive principles but, in a weaker sense, conditions of the possibility of experience. The relation between...
The Nature of Appearance in Kant’s Transcendentalism: A Seman- tico-Cognitive Analysis
The concept of appearance within the framework of the transcendental distinction between “appearance” and “thing in itself” is the cornerstone of Kant’s transcendental philosophy. However, its conceptual status seems largely uncertain. This uncertainty is the reason for a wide range of interpretations of Kant’s transcendental idealism. A paradigmatic example is the contemporary confrontation between the “two objects” theory and the “two aspects” theory. In this paper, I develop a semantico-cognitive...
A transcendental analysis of mathematics: The constructive nature of mathematics
Kant’s transcendental philosophy (transcendentalism) focuses on both the human method of cognition in general [CPR, B 25] and certain types of cognition aimed at justifying their objective significance. This article aims to explicate Kant’s understanding (resp. justification) of the abstract nature of mathematical knowledge (cognition) as the “construction of concepts in intuition” (see: “to construct a concept means to exhibit a priori the intuition corresponding to it”; [CPR, A 713/В 741], which...
Consequences and Design in General and Transcendental Logic
In this article, I consider Kant’s dichotomy between general and transcendental logic in light of a retrospective reconstruction of two approaches originating in 14th century scholasticism that are used to demarcate formal and material consequences. The first approach (e. g., John Buridan, Albert of Saxony, Marsilius of Inghen) holds that a consequence is formal if it is valid — because of its form only — for any matter. Since the matter of a consequence is linked to categorematic terms, its formal...
Kant’s appearance as an objective-objectual [gegenständlich] representation
This article analyses the features of Kant’s [transcendental] philosophy, which Kant himself described as transcendental idealism. On the one hand, Kant’s transcendentalism rests on the distinction between things-in-themselves and appearances. On the other hand, our method of cognition is representative in that is based on representations — subjective and objective (objectual) ones. A synthesis of the above considerations suggests that Kant’s transcendentalism rests on the [conceptual] triad — ‘[objective]...
Review of Recent Russian Studies of Hermann Cohen’s Philosophy
The review covers scholarly publications devoted to the philosophy of Hermann Cohen, the head of the Marburg School of NeoKantianism, written by Russ ian researchers in the period between 2000 and 2023. Although Cohen commanded unquestioned authorityamong Russian philosophers of his time — among them some followers and pupils — there was no systematic and substantive study of his work in prerevolutionary Russia. The review below attempts to show the evidentgrowth of interest in Cohen’s philosophy...
Transcendental Philosophy as a Scientific Research Programme
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...
Taking Detours through the “Transcendental Dialectic”. The Principles of Homogeneity, Specification, and Continuity
In a crucial paragraph (KrV, A 663-664 / B 691-692) of the first part of the “Appendix to the Transcendental Dialectic”, Kant discusses the specific status of the principles of homogeneity, specification, and continuity. In doing so, he refers to an already proven argument and thus to other passages of the Critique of Pure Reason. In search of this argument the “Transcendental Analytic” but in particular the “first book” of the “Transcendental Dialectic” turn out to be possible reference points....
Report of the ‘Transcendental Turn in Contemporary Philosophy 2’ International Seminar (Moscow, 27—29 April 2017)
This is a report of the international workshop «Transcendental Turn in Contemporary Philosophy 2: Kant’s Appearance, Its Ontological and Epistemic Status» (April 27—29, 2017, Moscow), the tasks of which was (1) to discuss the specificity of transcendental idealism, (2) to study the nature of one of Kant’s important concepts — that of appearance — within the framework of the essential conceptual triad of transcendentalism: thing in itself (Ding an sich) — appearance (Erscheinung) — representation...
Deduction of Freedom vs Deduction of Experience in Kant’s Metaphysics
My aim is to demonstrate the specificities and differences between transcendental deduction of concepts and deduction of the fundamental principles of pure practical reason in Kant’s metaphysics. First of all it is necessary to examine Kant’s attitude to the metaphysics of his time and the problem of its new justification. Kant in his philosophy explicated not only the theoretical world of cognition, but also the practical world of freedom. Accordingly, the fundamental means of proving metaphysics’...
Analytical Kant studies, transcendental idealism, and the thing in itself
In modern theoretical analytical philosophy, the interest in Kant is primarily due to discussions on the nature of sensory perceptions, on the epistemological status of experience, and on the so-called ‘constructivism’. The conflict of interpretations goes so far that some consider Kant to be a conceptualist, while others consider him an anti-conceptualist. For some, he is an internalist and, for others, an externalist. For some, he is a constructivist and, for others is a realist. This paper develops...
Systematicity of the Critique of Pure Reason and Kant’s system (IV)
This article concludes the analysis of systematicity of the Critique of Pure Reason — the work that underlies the entire system created by the great Königsberg philosopher. The author considers the role of transcendental dialectic (it accounts for more than half of the book) in Kant’s methodology of science and the system of criticism. In the context of traditional epistemological theories, it was an entirely new instalment supplementing these theories and understanding knowledge as a continuous...
Kantian Transcendentalism in Contemporary Philosophical Discussions. Report of the “Transcendental Turn in Contemporary Philosophy-3” International Workshop
The review presents the International Workshop “Transcendental Turn in Contemporary Philosophy-3: Nature (Specificities) of Transcendental Philosophy” held in Moscow on 19-22 April, 2018. The workshop was co-sponsored by the State Academic University for the Humanities, the Russian State University for the Humanities and the Foundation for the Humanities. The review examines the main topics of the workshop, summarises the main presentations and explicates the problem area of modern interpretations...
What is transcendental logic?
This article deals with Kant's justification of transcendental logic. The author shows how Kant draws the distinction between general and transcendental logic. The article analyses the essence of the new logic and its place in transcendental philosophy and considers the structural logical elements and their functions.
1. Брюшинкин В. Н. О логических ошибках в кантовской таблице суждений // Кантовский сборник. 2008. № 2 (28). С. 7—22.
2. Декарт Р. Правила для руководства ума // Декарт Р. Сочинения:...
Transcendental logic and analytic of concepts
This article focuses o the functions, structure and effects of transcendental logic in the Analytic of concepts of Kant's "Critique of pure reason". The author explicates different aspects, rules, principles, the method and procedures of transcendental logic.
1. Брюшинкин В. Н. Взаимодействие формальной и трансцендентальной логики // Кантовский сборник. 2006. Вып. 26. С. 148—167.
2. Васильев В. В. Философская психология в эпоху Просвещения. М., 2010.
3. Кант И. Критика чистого разума...
Dilemmas of logical hylomorphism
Logical hylomorphism considers logic as a theory of formal relations. However, it is difficult to give a precise definition of these relations due to a multitude of interpretations of formality in logic. This paper acknowledges the dichotomy of the substantial and dynamic models of formality. Firstly, the author suggests revising certain interpretations of Aristotelian syllogistics and attempts to answer the question as to why Aristotle did not become the founder of logical hylomorphism. It is argued...
Analytic Work on Kant — Idealism, Things in Themselves, and the Object of Knowledge
The article sketches the development of Kant interpretation in analytic philosophy. The author turns to Kant’s transcendental idealism and three well-known difficulties about things in themselves which Kant’s idealism generates: problems about unknowability, noumenal-affection and category-application, and the neglected-alternative. Building on the work “Things in Themselves: an Interim Report” (XI Kant Readings, Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University, Kaliningrad, 2014), the author questions how...
Wege und Irrwege der Europäischen Rationalität. Das Problem der Evidenz
The problem of rationality today means the problem of the inner unreasonableness of reasonableness in the sense of its inner limit. Even the humanistic revolution of the Renaissance gradually led to the replacement of the power of omnipotent faith by faith in the omnipotence of power. It is this general orientation towards power and the cult of power, this new belief in power, that revealed itself more and more sharply in the course of European history and eventually led to extreme forms of expression...
Darwinism as the Missing Link in Kant’s Critical Philosophy
I proceed from the hypothesis that the difficulties in Kant’s presentation of his plan and, accordingly, the implicit reason for the critical attitude to this plan on the part of many contemporary philosophers stem from the fact that he had no theoretical link at his disposal which would offer a more solid scientific grounding for his entire system. I believe that Darwinism is such a link which bolsters the central but ungrounded thesis of the Critique of Pure Reason on the existence of a priori...
The second application of transcendental logic
This article considers the functions, structure and actions of transcendental logic in “The Analytic of Principles” of Kant’s “Critique of pure reason”. The author explicates the specificity, rules, laws and the method of transcendental logic in this sphere of analytic.
1. Кант И. Критика чистого разума (В, 1787 г.) // И. Кант. Сочинения на русском и немецком языках. Т. 2 (1). М., 2006.
2. Кант И. Критика чистого разума (А, 1781 г.) // Там же. Т. 2 (2).
3. Кант И. Критика способности суждения...
How transcendental are Kant’s principles of public law?
This article presents a comprehensive analysis of the content, meaning, and scenarios of applying the transcendental principles of public law formulated in the second appendix to Kant’s treatise Toward Perpetual Peace. The author compares different interpretations of these principles by Russian and international researchers. The article strives to answer the question as to what type of ‘public’ is meant by these principles, whether these principles can serve as a priori criteria for selecting maxims...
The transcendental theory of experience and modern philoso¬phy of science
This article sets out to develop a transcendental theory of science based on the original interpretation and modern development of Kant’s transcendentalism (theory of experience). The author shows that modern (postpositivistic and analytical) philosophy of science
follows the spirit of Kant’s “Copernican revolution” as “the new method of thought” [CPR, B XVIII].
1. Гемпель К. Г. Логика объяснения. М., 1998.
2. Делёз Ж. Критическая философия Канта: учение о способностях… М., 2000.
3. Кант И. Критика...
Peculiarities of Kant’s Interpretation of the Term ‘Consequence’
Modern formal logic, which is based on Kant’s logical project, interprets logical consequence as formal, which leads to substantive paradoxes that combine any thoughts at all and so to the loss of consequence as such. Beginning with A. Tarski, modern history of logic brings the problem of logical consequence into the realmof search for the relation of consequence, or grounding. In his doctoral dissertation on the nature of logical formality J. MacFarlane claims that the paradoxes of formal theories...
On the morals-centeredness of Kant’s transcendental anthropology and on the role of morals in the human nature
This article proves that the philosophical system of Kant is a system of transcendental anthropology, which acts a method in Kant’s pragmatic anthropology. The essence of transcendental anthropology is the metaphysics of morals. This role of morals manifests itself in the primacy of practical reason over the theoretical one. The humanity owes its development and existence to the practical reason. In Kant’s system, morality is the essence of humanity.
1. Гартман Н. Этика. СПб., 2002.
2. Гуревич...
Kant's logic and Strawson's metaphysics
This article defines the way of interaction between formal and transcendental logic through introducing ontological considerations based on P. Strawson's descriptive metaphysics. The notions of a particular, a sortal universal and a feature universal are introduced into the transcendental limitation on the inferences of formal logic.
1. Аристотель. Категории // Аристотель. Соч.: в 4 т. М., 1978. Т. 2. С. 53—90.
2. Брюшинкин В. Н. Взаимодействие формальной и трансцендентальной логики // Кантовский...
On the moralcentrism of Kant's transcendental anthropology and the role of morals in human nature (continuation)
This article proves that Kant's philosophical system is a system of transcendental anthropology, which acts as a method in Kant’s pragmatic anthropology. The essence of transcendental anthropology is the metaphysics of morals. This role of morals manifests itself in the primacy of practical reason over the theoretical one. The humanity owes its development and existence to the practical reason. In Kant’s system, morality is the essence of humanity.
1. Апель К.-О. Априори коммуникативного сообщества...
Self-knowledge of Reason as a vital phenomenon in Kant’s transcendental dialectic
This study attempts to interpret the process of self-knowledge of reason in the transcendental dialectic as a vital phenomena. In the transcendental dialectic, a thesis and antithesis arises from the division of reason, which can not happen in the death of reason. Dogmatism and skepticism, which had been derived from a division of reason, have formed the history of philosophy. The disputes between the thesis and the antithesis, or the dogmatism and skepticism could be regarded as a battlefields or...
Transcendental reflection and the ideal of pure reason in Kant’s works
This article discusses the problem of correlation between the two fundamental concepts of Kantian philosophy — transcendental reflection and the ideal of pure reason. Based on the analysis of Kant’s three Critiques, the author demonstrates that the ideal of pure reason can be described as a goal that defines the shape of knowledge in any field of activity, whereas transcendental reflection is a means to embody the ideal of pure reason in practice, i. e. to apply it to concrete disparate and multifarious...
J. N. Tetens’s ‘transcendental philosophy’ as a basic science¬ and criti¬cal propaedeutics to metaphysics
In his treatise On General Speculative Philosophy, J. N. Tetens sets out to justify the possibility and necessity of metaphysics as a general speculative science. His primary objective is to defend metaphysics against the opponents, the most serious of which, in Tetens’s opinion, is D. Hume. In this connection, Tetens sharply criticises traditional empiricism and develops a new perspective on experience and the bases of its certainty. The main target of his critique is ‘popular philosophy’, which...
On the morals-centrism of Kant’s transcendental anthropology and the role of morals in human nature
This article proves that Kant’s philosophical system is a system of transcendental anthropology, which acts as a method in Kant’s pragmatic anthropology. The essence of transcendental anthropology is the metaphysics of morals. This role of morals manifests itself in the primacy of practical reason over theoretical reason. The humanity owes its development and existence to practical reason. In Kant’s system, morality is the essence of humanity.
1. Гартман Н. Этика. СПб., 2002.
2. Гуревич П. С. Философская...
Kant’s logic and Strawson’s metaphysics
This article defines the way of interaction between formal and transcendental logic through introducing ontological considerations based on P. Strawson's descriptive metaphysics. The notions of a particular, a sortal universal, and a feature universal are introduced into the transcendental limitation on the inferences of formal logic.
1. Аристотель. Категории // Аристотель. Соч.: в 4 т. М., 1978. Т. 2. С. 53—90.
2. Брюшинкин В. Н. Взаимодействие формальной и трансцендентальной логики // Кантовский...
The Imperishable Kant: Deleuze on the Consistency of the Faculties of Reason
The influence of Immanuel Kant’s philosophy on the ideas of Gilles Deleuze was quite substantial. However, analyses of the correlation between the ideas of the two philosophers have not yet received proper research attention, especially in Russian-language literature. To reveal the essence and history of the development of Deleuze’s attitude to Kant, the former’s work, Kant’s Critical Philosophy: The Doctrine of the Faculties (1963), in which the French philosopher aims to find the potential limits...