This week we look at the basic structure of Kant’s critical project, the issue of “synthetic a priori” judgment, Kant’s conception of a “Copernican revolution” that bases metaphysics on the nature of the faculties of the mind, and his view of the limits of rational inquiry.
Readings
- Preface (First Edition), Avii-xxii (Guyer & Wood, 99-105), Preface (Second Edition), Bxii-xliv (Guyer & Wood, 106-124), & Introduction (Second Edition), B1-30 (Guyer & Wood, 136-52) to the Critique of Pure Reason
- Schechter, “The Theoretical Significance of the A Priori/A Posteriori Distinction”, §§1-2
- Melamedoff-Vosters, “Kant’s Argument for Transcendental Idealism in the Transcendental Aesthetic Revisited”, §§2-3
- Notes: Kant’s Critical Project (PDF)
- (Recommended) Hogan, “Metaphysical Motives of Kant’s Analytic/Synthetic Distinction” (especially §§1-4)
- (Recommended) Van Cleve, “Necessity, Analyticity, and the A Priori”
- (Optional) SEP entry on Kant’s Philosophical Development
Questions
- What is the difference between an analytic and a synthetic judgment?
- What is the difference between a priori and a posteriori judgment?
- What is “cognition”?
- What problem does Kant think metaphysics faces?
- What is a “science” (Wissenschaft) in Kant’s sense?
- What are the limits of metaphysics?
- Why does metaphysics tend to overstep these limits?