Reading Kant: New Perspectives on Transcendental Arguments and Critical Philosophy

Description

Ever since the publication of Kant's "Critique of Pure Reason", his answers to the questions whether there can be certain knowledge of an independent reality, and what the conditions of such knowlege might be, have fascinated philosophers of many different persuasions. The current resurgence of interest in metaphysical questions as the defence of realism as against some form of idealism, and in the possibility of a priori refutations of scepticism, has re-focused attention on Kant's arguments. The contributors to this volume reassess these arguments and the prospects in general of a Kantian solution to the problems of idealism and scepticism. They show how close attention to the ambiguities of Kant's text reveals a diversity of possible strategies, and that current attempts to solve these problems can benefit from reflection on this diversity. They show in fact, the appropriateness of Kant's own description of his work as a propaedeutic to any future metaphysics. Topics covered in this collection of papers include the nature and possibility of transcendental arguments, the prospects for a decisive refutation of scepticism, the role of space in our experience of an objective world, the nature of judgement, the identity of the subject, the dynamic structure of Kant's metaphysics and the tenability of transcendental idealism.