The Typic in Kant’s "Critique of Practical Reason": Moral Judgment and Symbolic Representation

281 Pages·2016·1.755 MB·English

by  Adam Westra

Adam Westra
The Typic in Kant’s Critique of Practical Reason
Kantstudien-Ergänzungshefte
Im Auftrag der Kant-Gesellschaft
herausgegeben von
Manfred Baum, Bernd Dörflinger
und Heiner F. Klemme
Band 188
Adam Westra
The Typic in Kant’s
Critique of Practical
Reason
Moral Judgment and Symbolic Representation
ISBN 978-3-11-045462-8
e-ISBN (PDF) 978-3-11-045593-9
e-ISBN (EPUB) 978-3-11-045515-1
ISSN 0340-6059
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A CIP catalog record for this book has been applied for at the Library of Congress.
Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie;
detailed bibliographic data are available on the Internet at http://dnb.dnb.de.
© 2016 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Printing and binding: Hubert & Co. GmbH & Co. KG, Göttingen
♾ Printed on acid-free paper
Printed in Germany
www.degruyter.com
To mybrother, Evan

Acknowledgements
Iwouldliketoexpressmyheartfeltthankstothefollowingpeople:
Mon amour,ClaraDupuis-Morency,forhercaring,passion,andinspiration;
Myawesomebrother,Evan,towhomthebookisdedicated;
Mywonderfulparents,HaijoandMoniqueWestra,fortheirinfinite,lovingsupport;
MyfavouriteAuntie,ClaudetteReich,for athousandthings;
Sonia Mansour and Philippe Robaey, for their generosity, guidance, and humour;
Myfriends,inCanadaandinEurope,fortheiradvice,encouragement,andcompan-
ionship: Mark & Nataly Westby, Stephen Bank, Jen Spiegel,Olivier Huot-Beaulieu,
MaudeForget-Chiasson,OlivierContensou,RebeccaDolgoy,ZoëRobaey,Alexandre
Robaey, Manuel Roy,Tobias Leßmeister, Anna Wehofsits, David Löwenstein, Alice
Cugusi,AgnèsGrivaux,SaraReichert,andIdaLohse.
ThisbookisarevisedversionofmyPhDdissertationofthesametitle,whichI
defendedattheUniversitédeMontréalon18September,2014.Iwouldthereforelike
toacknowledgethepeoplewhogavemesomuchknowledgeandguidanceduring
mytimeasagraduatestudent. ClaudePiché,mysupervisor,forhisboundlesssup-
portandenthusiasmovertheyears,andforhavingshownmewhatitmeanstobea
gentleman and a scholar. His many comments and suggestions have greatly im-
provedthebook.HolmTetens,forsokindlyhostingmefrom2010to2013asaGast-
wissenschaftler at the Institut für Philosophie, Freie Universität Berlin, and for in-
cluding me in his Forschungskolloquium. The administrative staff of the
Département de philosophie, Université de Montréal, especially Pierrette Delisle,
for shepherding me through my doctorat. The staff of the libraries in which I
spent so many hours: Bibliothèque des lettres et sciences humaines,Université de
Montréal (special thanks to Nino Gabrielli); Bibliothèque et Archives Nationales
du Québec, Montréal; Humanities and Social Sciences Library, McGill University;
TaylorFamilyDigitalLibrary,UniversityofCalgary;St.Mary’sUniversityCollegeLi-
brary, Calgary; KUB Nord, Copenhagen; Philologische Bibliothek, Freie Universität
Berlin; and especially my beloved ‘Stabi’ (Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin), where the
bulkofthebookwasresearched,written,andlaterrevised.
My doctoral studies were made possible by several generous scholarships:Jo-
seph-ArmandBombardierCanadaGraduateScholarshipandMichaelSmithForeign
StudySupplement,SocialSciencesandHumanitiesResearchCouncilofCanada;Fi-
nancementintégré,Départementdephilosophie,UniversitédeMontréal;Boursede
find’étudesdoctorales,Facultédesétudessupérieuresetpostdoctorales,Université
deMontréal.
Adam Westra Montréal, 2016

Contents
Method of citation and list of abbreviations XIII
Introduction 1
 The Typic chapter in the Critique of Practical Reason 1
 Need for the present study 3
. Obscurity of the primary text 3
. Conflicting interpretations in the secondary literature 4
 Goals of the present study 6
 Approach and methodology 7
. General approach 7
. Specific methodology 9
. On the selection of texts 11
 Overview 12
. Part One. Commentary 12
. Part Two. The typic’s place in Kant’s theory of symbolic
representation 15
Commentary
Chapter 1. The task 19
. Objects of pure practical reason and the concepts of good and
evil 19
. Moral appraisal 22
Chapter 2. The ‘particular difficulties’ 27
. Construals of the problem in the secondary literature 28
.. Natural necessity vs. freedom 28
.. Is vs. ought 32
.. Concrete vs. abstract 34
.. Matter vs. form 35
.. Subjective ends vs. objective ends 36
. The representational mismatch: sensible intuitions vs. supersensible
Ideas 37
.. From ‘the very same difficulties’ as theoretical judgment to the
‘particular difficulties’ of practical judgment 37