Kant’s Transcendental Deduction: An Analysis of Main Themes in His Critical Philosophy

Description

The argument of the Transcendental Deduction of the Categories in the Critique of Pure Reason is the deepest and most far-reaching in philosophy. In his new book, Robert Howell interprets main themes of the Deduction using ideas from contemporary philosophy and intensional logic, thereby providing a keener grasp of Kant's many subtleties than has hitherto been available. No other work pursues Kant's argument through every twist and turn with the careful, logically detailed attention maintained here. Surprising new accounts of apperception, the concept of an object, the logical functions of thought, the role of the Metaphysical Deduction, and Kant's relations to his Aristotelian-Cartesian background are developed. Howell makes a precise contribution to the discussion of most of the disputed issues in the history of Deduction interpretation. Controversial in its conclusions, this book demands the attention of all who take seriously the task of understanding Kant's work and evaluating it dispassionately. Front Matter....Pages i-xxiv Kant’s Picture of Knowledge....Pages 1-24 Intuitions and Their Objects....Pages 25-58 Intuition, The Manifold of Intuition, and Its Synthesis....Pages 59-101 The Transcendental Deduction: Its Structure, Goals, and Opening Claims....Pages 103-139 Combination and Intensionality: B-Deduction § 15....Pages 141-153 Apperception: B-Deduction § 16....Pages 155-190 Transcendental Unity of Apperception and Its Necessity....Pages 191-212 The Union of the Manifold of Intuition in the Concept of an Object: B-Deduction § 17....Pages 213-244 Objective Unity of Apperception and the Logical Forms of Judgment: B-Deduction § 18 and § 19....Pages 245-274 Category Application to the Object of Intuition: B-Deduction § 20....Pages 275-338 Back Matter....Pages 339-424