PHIL 460 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Critique Of Pure Reason, Transcendental Idealism, Oneworld
12 Jun 2018
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Transcendental idealism: summary
The argument:
1. All objects of our experience have spatial and temporal properties
2. Spatial and temporal properties hold of appearances, not of a thing in itself
What is a thing in itself?
• would spatial or temporal properties pertain to objects even if they were
not intuited ?
o no!
• Answer to question: a thing in itself is a thing whose properties would
pertain without being intuited
Different interpretations:
a) Two-worlds: see textual support [A190/B234]
• emphasis on how they affect us; seems to infer something out there
b) one-world
• 2 aspects
• see Bxxvii
• speaks of the object
Beginning of transcendental logic: science of rules of understanding
• categories → pure concepts. How does he get these through table of
judgments?
• question of the form: if there were pure concepts that structured our
understanding, what would they be?
• Showing that they exist: metaphysical deduction
• That they apply to objects: transcendental deduction
Abstraction from contributions of understanding
• paradoxically, what he will show is that this cant really be done
• conceives of understanding as active spontaneous
• sensibility receives objects (passive), understanding thinks them (active)
o understanding elevates to status of an object
o sensible intuition does not give cognition of object
o needs to be combined
• note: even in sensory receptivity, were still contributing form as shown in
aesthetic)
• Experience H says we derive, e.g., cause and effect, presupposes relation of
cause and effect
• So we need both intuition and concepts
o thoughts without concept are empty, concepts without thoughts are
blind
• concepts made sensible with intuition, and intuitions made understandable
via organizing into cognition
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Document Summary
The argument: all objects of our experience have spatial and temporal properties, spatial and temporal properties hold of appearances, not of a thing in itself. Different interpretations: 2 aspects, see bxxvii, speaks of the object. Beginning of transcendental logic: science of rules of understanding: categories pure concepts. General vs. transcendental logic: general: abstracts form content of objects; purely form of thought dealt with, transcendental: concerned with pure thinking of objects; how much can we say about objects, a priori? (if anything): form of objects. Search for a priori concepts: analytic of concepts understanding: metaphysical deduction ss. 10-12, showing a priori derivation from: transcendental deduction ss. 13-27, that they apply to what(cid:495)s given to us through sensibility; (cid:498)extent and limit of legitimate use of those categories(cid:499) How does he prove existence of pure concepts: starts with forms of judgment (general logic) Outline: logical use of the understanding in general, forms of judgment (general, categories (transcendental)
