Kant's
Philosophy of the Supersensible
Graduate
Seminar, Spring 2006
Course
Description
One of the central results of Kant's theoretical philosophy is
that our knowledge is limited to the sensible realm of possible experience (and
the epistemic conditions for the possibility of experience). From a theoretical
point of view, we cannot know anything about things as they are in themselves.
At the same time, Kant also suggests that we are able to 'know' something about
things in themselves after all in a less strict sense, or, more modestly, that
we can have reasonable beliefs about the supersensible, or, at the very least,
that we can meaningfully converse about possible supersensible matters. Kant's
views about these various cognitive attitudes to the supersensible emerge in
the later parts of the Critique of Pure Reason, Kant's practical philosophy,
his philosophy of religion, and the Critique of Judgment.
This
seminar is a research seminar, whose aim is to get clearer about Kant's exact
position regarding the supersensible. We will start by taking a brief look at
Kant's Inaugural Dissertation, and by revisiting his treatment of things in themselves in the
Critique of Pure Reason. From there we will turn to the practical philosophy, with a
focus on Kant's theory of postulates in the Critique of Practical Reason, followed by an examination
of selected parts of the Critique of Judgment, in particular Kant's
discussion of the connection between the beautiful and the good in the Critique
of Aesthetic Judgment, and his considerations regarding the relation between natural
science, teleology, and theology in the Critique of Teleological Judgment. We will end with an
examination of Kant's mature philosophy of religion in Religion within the
Bounds of Bare Reason.
Some prior familiarity with Kant is not absolutely necessary,
but would be very helpful. A 'side-effect' of the course is that students will
be introduced to many different aspects of Kant's philosophical system, but the
main focus of the seminar will not be on the 'official' doctrines, but the
metaphysical undercurrent of Kant's thinking that concerns the supersensible.
Secondary readings: selected secondary articles or book chapters will be made
available at least one week prior to the seminar session for which they are
intended, either digitally in the web-file courseware folder for this class, or
in form of ÔmasterÕ hardcopies in the lounge, which you can photocopy for your
own perusal.
POLICIES, REQUIREMENTS
Grades
Your grade
for this course will be computed from the following elements: a participation
grade (25 %), a grade for a short presentation (10-15 minutes) in a seminar
session on (some of) the assigned readings of the day (15%), and a term paper
of about 25 pages (60%).
Attendance
Your call.
But not understanding Kant on your own is much less fun than not understanding
Kant in good company, soÉ
Plagiarism
Forbidden.
Schedule
Week I, January 23
Logistics; General Introduction; Specific introduction: initial
characterization of the distinction between things in themselves and
appearances, problems/questions regarding things in themselves in the
theoretical philosophy; The pre-critical distinction between a mundus
sensibilis and a mundus intelligibilis
Readings: Inaugural Dissertation, sections II, IV, V
Week II, January 30
One world versus two worlds, and the problem of affection
Primary Readings: CPR, B-Preface, Transcendental Aesthetic
Secondary Readings: James van Cleve, Problems from Kant, pp. 143-171; Henry
Allison, KantÕs Transcendental Idealism (2nd ed.), chapter i, pp.3-19, chapter
iii.1, 3, pp.50-57, 64-73; optional: Henry Allison, "Transcendental Idealism:
The 'Two Aspect' View"
Week III, February 6
1) The non-spatiality of things in themselves, and the neglected third
alternative; optional: the Ôcinnabar problemÕ
Primary Readings: CPR, Transcendental Aesthetic
Secondary Readings: Allison, KantÕs Transcendental Idealism, pp. 128-132; Lorne
Falkenstein, "Kant's Argument for the Non-Spatiality of Things in Themselves";
optional: Kenneth Westphal, "Affinity, Idealism, and Naturalism: The Stability
of Cinnabar and the Possibility of Experience"
2) Things in themselves, noumena, the transcendental object
Primary Readings: CPR, Part of the A-Deduction (A103-114) [this is also the
primaryly relevant primary text for the ÔoptionalÕ material above], Phaenomena
and Noumena (A235/B294-A260/B315)
Secondary Readings: Henry Allison, KantÕs Transcendental Idealism, pp. 57-64
Week IV, February 13
Overstepping the bounds of sense I
Primary Readings: CPR, The Amphiboly of the Concepts of Reflection
Secondary Reading: Rae Langton, Kantian Humility, chapters 2, 3, and 6, and
"Elusive Knowledge of Things in Themselves"; optional: Karl Ameriks, "The
Critique of Metaphysics: Kant and Traditional Ontology"
Week V, February 20
Overstepping the bounds of sense II
Primary Readings: The Transcendental Dialectic, Intro and Ideas (B349-B398);
The Paralogisms (A341/B399-B431/A405); optional, The Refutation of Idealism
(B275-B279)
Secondary Readings: Pat Kitcher, "Kant's Paralogisms"
Week VI, February 27
Overstepping the bounds of sense III
Primary Readings: The Antinomy of Pure Reason, B432-B594. Remark: I know,
that's a lot; try to skim-read, but should slow down for sections i, the 2nd,
3rd, and 4th antinomies in section ii, section iv, vi, vii, and the solutions
of the 2nd, 3rd and 4th antinomies in section ix.
Secondary Readings: Allison, Kant's Transcendental Idealism, chapter 13; Paul
Guyer, Kant and the Claims of Knowledge, chapter 18
Week VII, March 6th
The Ideal of the Highest Good, Propositional Attitudes
Primary Readings: Appendix (B670-B731), On the Ideal of the Highest Good
(B832-B847); On Opinion, Knowledge and Belief (B848-B858)
Secondary Readings: Allison, Kant's Transcendental Idealism, chapters 15;
Leslie Stevenson, "Opinion, Belief or Faith, and Knowledge"
Week VIII, March 13th
Spring Break
Week IX, March 20th
The third Antinomy, Kant's
conception of freedom in the CpR; the reality of freedom in the practical
philosophy
Primary
Readings: (possibly refresh your memory of the material pertaining to the third
antinomy, which we already read for a previous session); Groundwork, selections (AA. IV,
437-463), focus on section III; Critique of Practical Reason, selections (AA. V, 1-9,
19-35, 42-57)
Secondary Readings: Karl
Ameriks, "Kant's Deduction of Freedom and Morality", in Journal of the
History of Philosophy 19 (1981),
53-79; Henry Allison, KantÕs Theory of Freedom, chapters 12-13
Week X, March 27th
The Highest Good, and the
Doctrine of Postulates
Primary
Readings: Critique of Pure Reason, On the Ideal of the Highest Good (B832-B847) (we already read
this material for an earlier session); Critique of Practical Reason, Dialectic (AA. V, 107-148),
focus on section V
Secondary
Readings: Manfred Kuehn, "Kant's Transcendental Deduction of God's Existence as
a Postulate of Pure Practical Reason", in Kant-Studien 76:2 (1985) p.152; Frederick
Beiser, "Moral faith and the highest good", in Paul Guyer (ed.), The
Cambridge Companion to Kant (2006), pp. 588-629
Week XI, April 3rd
Teleology, and Natural Theology
Primary Readings: Critique
of Pure Reason, Appendix to the
Dialectic (B670-B731) (we read this material for an earlier session, but
haven't talked about it yet); Critique of Judgment, optional: Introduction (AA. V, 171-197), but look
at sections iii, iv, v, viii, and ix in the Intro; optional: ¤¤ 64-78 (AA. V,
369- 415); focus on: Doctrine of Method, ¤¤ 79-91 (AA. V, 416-474); optional:
"General remark" (AA. V, 475-485)
Secondary Readings: Henry Allison,
Kant's Transcendental Idealism, chapter 15; Paul Guyer, "Ends of Reason and
Ends of Nature: the place of teleology in Kant's Ethics", in Journal of
Value Inquiry, 2002, 36(2-3): 161-186
Week XII, April 10th
The
sublime, The beautiful as symbol of the good
Primary
Readings: Critique of Judgment, ¤¤ 23-29, and part of the "General Remark" (AA. V, 244-271);
¤¤58-60 (AA. V, 346-361)
Secondary Readings: Ted Cohen, "Why beauty is a symbol of
morality", in Paul Guyer (ed.), Essays in Kant's Aesthetics, pp. 221-236; Michael
Neville, "Kant on beauty as the symbol of morality", in Philosophical
Research Archives,
1 (No 1053), 1975; Louis Roy, "Kant's Reflections on the Sublime and the Infinite", in Kant-Studien, 1997; 88(1): 44-59
Week XIII, April 17th
Easter Break
Week XIV, April 24th
Religion
Primary
Readings I: CpR, On the transcendental Ideal (B599-B611)
Secondary
Readings: Allison, Kant's Transcendental Idealism, chapter 14
Primary
Readings II: Religion within the Boundaries of Mere Reason, specific selections TBA
Secondary
Readings: Adina Davidovich, "How to Read Religion within the Limits of
Reason Alone", in Kant-Studien 85(1), 1994,
1-14; John Silber, "The Ethical Significance of Kant's Religion", in T. M.
Greene and H. H. Hudson (trans. and eds.), Religion within the Limits of
Reason Alone, pp. cxxix ff.; S. R. Palmquist, "Does Kant reduce religion to
morality?", in Kant-Studien 83(2), 1992, 129-148
Week XV, May 1st
Religion continued, Wrap-up