Accessing Kant: a relaxed introduction to the Critique of pure reason PDF
Preview Accessing Kant: a relaxed introduction to the Critique of pure reason
Accessing Kant This page intentionally left blank Accessing Kant A Relaxed Introduction to the CritiqueofPure Reason Jay F. Rosenberg CLARENDON PRESS (cid:1) OXFORD 3 GreatClarendonStreet,OxfordOX26DP OxfordUniversityPressisadepartmentoftheUniversityofOxford. ItfurtherstheUniversity’sobjectiveofexcellenceinresearch,scholarship, andeducationbypublishingworldwidein OxfordNewYork Auckland CapeTown DaresSalaam HongKong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne MexicoCity Nairobi NewDelhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto Withofficesin Argentina Austria Brazil Chile CzechRepublic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore SouthKorea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam OxfordisaregisteredtrademarkofOxfordUniversityPress intheUKandincertainothercountries PublishedintheUnitedStates byOxfordUniversityPressInc.,NewYork (cid:1)JayF.Rosenberg2005 Themoralrightsoftheauthorhavebeenasserted DatabaserightOxfordUniversityPress(maker) Firstpublished2005 ExcerptsfromImmanuelKant,CritiqueofPureReason,translated andeditedbyPaulGuyerandAllenW.Wood(Cambridge,1998), (cid:1)CambridgeUniversityPress,reprintedwithpermission ofthepublisherandeditors. Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced, storedinaretrievalsystem,ortransmitted,inanyformorbyanymeans, withoutthepriorpermissioninwritingofOxfordUniversityPress, orasexpresslypermittedbylaw,orundertermsagreedwiththeappropriate reprographicsrightsorganization.Enquiriesconcerningreproduction outsidethescopeoftheaboveshouldbesenttotheRightsDepartment, OxfordUniversityPress,attheaddressabove Youmustnotcirculatethisbookinanyotherbindingorcover andyoumustimposethesameconditiononanyacquirer BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationData Dataavailable LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationData Dataavailable TypesetbySPIPublisherServices,Pondicherry,India PrintedinGreatBritainonacid-freepaperbyBiddlesLtd,King’sLynn,Norfolk ISBN0–19–927581–5 978–0–19–927581–6 ISBN0–19–927582–3(pbk.) 978–0–19–927582–3(pbk.) 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2 Preface My custom over the past forty years has been to reward myself for completingthemanuscriptofabookbygivingmyselffreereininwriting its preface. This book is no exception. Consequently, what immediately follows is a free-wheeling, overly mannered, and self-indulgent preface. Some readers find that sort of thing off-putting. If you do, then just skip overtotheIntroduction.Otherwise,starthere. Kantishardtoaccess.Understandinghimrequiresagoodbitofcontext, bothhistoricalandproblematic,andmasteryofaconsiderableamountof idiosyncratic terminology. Thus, although the classroom sessions during which, for the past thirty years, I’ve been introducing advanced philoso- phystudentstoKant’sCritiqueofPureReasonhavealwaysnominallybeen meetingsofaseminar,ithasinevitablyturnedoutthatI’vedonemostof the talking. In the course of three decades, I have consequently accumu- latedathickcollectionofwhatarebasicallylecturenotes. When I began seriously to consider formally retiring from teaching, it occurred to me that, once I did so, advanced philosophy students would subsequently have to be introduced to Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason by someoneelse.Thiswasasoberingthought.Irealized,ofcourse,thateven nowmostadvancedphilosophystudentsareintroducedtoKant’sworkby someoneelse,butthethoughtofafutureinwhichthisunfortunatestateof affairs would become absolutely universal filled me with anticipatory regret. Perhaps,however,thisdireconsequencecouldbeameliorated.Allneed notbelost.Therewere,afterall,allthoselecturenotes,andphilosophers, Irecalled,hadbeenreadingandprofitingfromAristotle’slecturenotesfor over 2,000 years. This was a heartening thought. Of course, I am not worth mentioning in the same breath with Aristotle, but the thought that perhaps some advanced philosophy students might someday read and profitfrommylecturenotesneverthelesssufficedtoreplacemyanticipa- toryregretwithafaintembryonichope. Of course, because I am not worth mentioning in the same breath with Aristotle,Ialsorealizedthatitwasunrealistictosupposethatanyonewould beinterestedinpublishingmylecturenotesassuch.But,justasIwasonthe Preface vergeoflapsingintoultimatedespair,itoccurredtomethat,duringthepast thirty-fiveyears,Ihadwrittenseveralbookswhichactuallyhadbeenpub- lished,andthiswasaliberatingthought.Iimmediatelyresolvedtotrans- formmymassoflecturenotesintoanengagingandinstructivebook,one thatcouldintroducefuturegenerationsofadvancedphilosophystudentsto Kant’sCritiqueofPureReasonmyway,thewayIhadbeendoingsoforthree decades.Theworkthatyouhaveinhandisthatbook. My way of trying to help advanced students to access Kant is a direct descendantofWilfridSellars’slegendaryintroductiontoKantandtheFirst Critique. Sellars was a gifted and inspiring teacher, and it was under his tutelagethatIfirstbegantounderstandandappreciateKant’sextraordin- aryphilosophicalaccomplishments.Inconsequence,althoughithasbeen coloredbyalmostfortyyearsofsubsequentruminations,encounterswith alternativeinterpretations,andinteractionswithbrightdoctoralstudents, whatisofferedhereisagenerallySellarsianinterpretationofKant.(Among saidbrightdoctoralstudents,threenamesespeciallystandout:C.Thomas Powell, Jim O’Shea, and Mary MacLeod. This is a good opportunity publiclytoexpressmythanksforwhattheytaughtmeaboutKant.) Thepracticeofpresentingsubstantialphilosophicalthesesandinsights withtheaidofpicturesderivesfromSellarsaswell.‘‘Allphilosophersthink in pictures,’’ heonce said. ‘‘The only differenceis thatI putmine on the blackboard.’’Mostoftheillustrationsinthisbookaremoreorlessmutated descendants of pictures that he passionately sketched for us on assorted blackboardsinPittsburghmorethanfourdecadesago.Thediscoverythat the transcendental synthesis of the imagination and the transcendental unityofapperceptionwereactuallysuitablemotifsforpictorial represen- tation was rather unexpected, but Sellars’s sketches proved surprisingly instructive. Although the technique indeed has its limitations, it has sub- sequently proved helpful to many generations of students, and I have consequentlyenthusiasticallyresolvedtoperpetuateithere. Theoperationoftransformingmymessylecturenotesintoafirstdraft of this elegant book was completedduring a yearin Bielefeld, Germany, fundedpartlybymyhomeinstitution,theUniversityofNorthCarolinaat ChapelHill,asaResearchandStudyLeave,andpartlybytheremainder ofagenerousAlexandervonHumboldtResearchAward.Iamgratefulfor both sources of support, but, since the euro gained 20 percent against a weakdollarduringthatyear,especiallyforthesecondone. Theyearbroughtmanyworthwhileexperiences—conferences,lectures, and symposia in various parts of Germany and stimulating visits with vi Preface colleagues in Ireland and Denmark—but none was more interesting and instructivethantwosemester-longseminarsonsubstantialpartsofKant’s CritiqueofPureReasonconductedbyProfessorMichaelWolffinBielefeld. ProfessorWolff’sapproachtoKant’sworkisinthebestGermanscholarly tradition,informedbyadeepandwide-ranginghistoricalknowledgeand taking full advantage of all the subtle techniques of textual hermeneutics andclassicalphilology.Ihadnoideahowmuchfunitcouldbetospend an hour or two evaluating candidate antecedents for one of Kant’s am- biguouspronouns—orhowmuchonecouldlearnintheprocess. ThatresearchyearalsobroughtthewarinIraq,which,inoneformor another,continuestoprovideanintrusivelyrealandpracticalcontrastto mypurelytheoreticalintellectualpursuits.Onecan’thelpbutbedisturbed by such contrasts, but, absent channels of influence or even a forum for effective self-expression, one’s options are rather severely limited. I take some comfort in the conviction that helping others to access Kant is an intrinsically worthwhile enterprise, whatever the transient political and militarystateoftheworld. Meanwhile,afterhavinggiventhefirstdraftofthebookatestrunwith anothergroupofbrightgraduatestudentsbackinChapelHill,Iamnow semi-retired and back living in Old Europe for another six months. The process of converting that first draft into the improved final version that you now have in hand has been much assisted by the reactions of said group of bright graduate students—especially Matthew Chrisman, who providedmanypagesofusefulwrittencommentsandquestions—andtwo officially anonymous colleagues who reviewed the draft manuscript for theOxfordUniversityPress.Mythankstoallofthem,andtoPaulGuyer andAllenWood,whogenerouslyapprovedmymakingextensiveexposi- toryuseoftheiroutstandingtranslationoftheFirstCritique. Beingsemi-retiredisenjoyable.One’sadministrativeburdensevanesce; one’s instructional obligations diminish; and there is finally enough time for lots of non-disciplinary reading. In contrast, being 62 years old is provinglessenjoyable.Intimationsofmortalityproliferate,andthebody increasinglyrebelsagainstwhatthespiritstillregardsasperfectlyreason- able impositions. It’s enough to make one wish that mind–body dualism were a coherent philosophical view. No such luck. Just another fragile organism,hanginginthereandmuddlingthrough.Salut! JAYF.ROSENBERG November2004 vii This page intentionally left blank Contents Introduction:TwoWaystoEncounterKant 1 Twostylesofhistoricalphilosophizing 2 Thisbook’sgoalsandstrategies 5 ThePythagoreanpuzzle 7 Chapter1 Intelligibility:FromDirectPlatonismtoConceptEmpiricism 11 Universalsandmodesofbeing 11 Structureintherealmofintelligibles 13 ConceptEmpiricism 19 Syntheticapriorijudgments 26 Chapter2 EpistemicLegitimacy:ExperientialUnity, FirstPrinciples,andStrategyK 32 Empiricaldeductionsandtranscendentaldeductions 34 Neo-Humeanempiricism:twosortsofepistemicauthority 36 Anti-skepticalinitiatives:strategicalternatives 41 TertiumquidrationalismvsStrategyK 47 Theexperiencingsubject:aconstitutiveend 53 Chaper3 TheWorldfromaPointofView:SpaceandTime 61 Space,theformofoutersense 64 Time,theformofinnersense 69 Thetranscendentalidealityofspaceandtime 77 IsKantrightaboutspaceandtime? 83 Chapter4 ConceptsandCategories:TranscendentalLogic andtheMetaphysicalDeduction 88 Transcendentallogic 89 Anewtheoryofconcepts 91 Intuitionsrevisited:Cartesianperceptionand Kantianperception 94 TheFormsofJudgment 97 TheTableofCategories 101
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