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Single Idea 5403
[filed under theme 12. Knowledge Sources / A. A Priori Knowledge / 7. A Priori from Convention
]
Full Idea
The main objection to Kant's philosophy is that to say that logic and arithmetic are contributed by us does not account for its certainty; if Kant is right, then tomorrow our nature could so change as to make two and two become five.
Gist of Idea
If, as Kant says, arithmetic and logic are contributed by us, they could change if we did
Source
comment on Immanuel Kant (Critique of Pure Reason [1781]) by Bertrand Russell - Problems of Philosophy Ch.8
Book Ref
Russell,Bertrand: 'The Problems of Philosophy' [OUP 1995], p.49
A Reaction
One would expect a realist like Russell to have fairly fundamental objections to the implied anti-realism (and conventionalism) of Kant. The same comment could be made about Kant's view of space, time and causation.
The
449 ideas
from Immanuel Kant
12157
|
Kant gave form and status to aesthetics, and Hegel gave it content
[Kant, by Scruton]
|
20346
|
The aesthetic attitude is a matter of disinterestedness
[Kant, by Wollheim]
|
18547
|
Only rational beings can experience beauty
[Kant, by Scruton]
|
24170
|
Kant thinks beauty ignores its objects, because it is only 'form' engaging with mind
[Cochrane on Kant]
|
22711
|
The beautiful is not conceptualised as moral, but it symbolises or resembles goodness
[Kant, by Murdoch]
|
4025
|
Kant saw beauty as a sort of disinterested pleasure, which has become separate from the good
[Kant, by Taylor,C]
|
22046
|
The mathematical sublime is immeasurable greatness; the dynamical sublime is overpowering
[Kant, by Pinkard]
|
5643
|
Aesthetic values are not objectively valid, but we must treat them as if they are
[Kant, by Scruton]
|
24172
|
It is hard to see why we would have developed Kant's 'disinterested' aesthetic attitude
[Cochrane on Kant]
|
21458
|
The sublime is a moral experience
[Kant, by Gardner]
|
20410
|
The judgement of beauty is not cognitive, but relates, via imagination, to pleasurable feelings
[Kant]
|
20412
|
Beauty is only judged in pure contemplation, and not with something else at stake
[Kant]
|
20408
|
With respect to the senses, taste is an entirely personal matter
[Kant]
|
20409
|
When we judge beauty, it isn't just personal; we judge on behalf of everybody
[Kant]
|
20411
|
Saying everyone has their own taste destroys the very idea of taste
[Kant]
|
18239
|
What is contemplated must have a higher value than contemplation
[Kant, by Korsgaard]
|
22053
|
The Critique of Judgement aims for a principle that unities humanity and nature
[Kant, by Bowie]
|
18237
|
Without men creation would be in vain, and without final purpose
[Kant]
|
18238
|
Only a good will can give man's being, and hence the world, a final purpose
[Kant]
|
22052
|
Kant's nature is just a system of necessary laws
[Bowie on Kant]
|
8256
|
Kant identifies nature with the scientific picture of it as the realm of law
[Kant, by McDowell]
|
6916
|
For Kant, essence is mental and a mere idea, and existence is the senses and mere appearance
[Kant, by Feuerbach]
|
9755
|
The concept of causality entails laws; random causality is a contradiction
[Kant, by Korsgaard]
|
17709
|
We judge causation by relating events together by some law of nature
[Kant, by Mares]
|
19669
|
For Kant the laws must be necessary, because contingency would destroy representation
[Kant, by Meillassoux]
|
19672
|
Kant fails to prove the necessity of laws, because his reasoning about chance is over-ambitious
[Meillassoux on Kant]
|
8451
|
Existence is merely derived from the word 'is' (rather than being a predicate)
[Kant, by Orenstein]
|
3321
|
Modern logic says (with Kant) that existence is not a predicate, because it has been reclassified as a quantifier
[Benardete,JA on Kant]
|
13732
|
Kant never denied that 'exist' could be a predicate - only that it didn't enlarge concepts
[Kant, by Fitting/Mendelsohn]
|
7918
|
Kant turned metaphysics into epistemology, ignoring Aristotle's 'being qua being'
[Kant, by Macdonald,C]
|
21462
|
It is still possible to largely accept Kant as a whole (where others must be dismantled)
[Kant, by Gardner]
|
9752
|
Kant showed that theoretical reason cannot give answers to speculative metaphysics
[Kant, by Korsgaard]
|
6584
|
A priori metaphysics is fond of basic unchanging entities like God, the soul, Forms, atoms…
[Kant, by Fogelin]
|
18236
|
Reason keeps asking why until explanation is complete
[Kant, by Korsgaard]
|
12767
|
Kant exposed the illusions of reason in the Transcendental Dialectic
[Kant, by Fraassen]
|
8739
|
Geometry studies the Euclidean space that dictates how we perceive things
[Kant, by Shapiro]
|
9632
|
Kant only accepts potential infinity, not actual infinity
[Kant, by Brown,JR]
|
3343
|
Euclid's could be the only viable geometry, if rejection of the parallel line postulate doesn't lead to a contradiction
[Benardete,JA on Kant]
|
12421
|
Kant's intuitions struggle to judge relevance, impossibility and exactness
[Kitcher on Kant]
|
12458
|
Kant taught that mathematics is independent of logic, and cannot be grounded in it
[Kant, by Hilbert]
|
7416
|
Kant is read as the phenomena being 'contrained' by the noumenon, or 'free-floating'
[Talbot on Kant]
|
17772
|
Kant claims causal powers are relational rather than intrinsic
[Kant, by Bayne]
|
6160
|
Does Kant say the mind imposes categories, or that it restricts us to them?
[Rowlands on Kant]
|
7576
|
The Identity of Indiscernibles is true of concepts with identical properties, but not of particulars
[Kant, by Jolley]
|
23461
|
Kant thought worldly necessities are revealed by what maths needs to make sense
[Kant, by Morris,M]
|
14710
|
Necessity is always knowable a priori, and what is known a priori is always necessary
[Kant, by Schroeter]
|
16256
|
For Kant metaphysics must be necessary, so a priori, so can't be justified by experience
[Kant, by Maudlin]
|
20944
|
Knowledge is threefold: apprehension, reproduction by imagination, recognition by concepts
[Kant, by Bowie]
|
8734
|
Non-subject/predicate tautologies won't fit Kant's definition of analyticity
[Shapiro on Kant]
|
7314
|
How can bachelor 'contain' unmarried man? Are all analytic truths in subject-predicate form?
[Miller,A on Kant]
|
8735
|
Kant implies that concepts have analysable parts
[Kant, by Shapiro]
|
22004
|
Concepts are rules for combining representations
[Kant, by Pinkard]
|
7070
|
Kant says knowledge is when our representations sufficiently conform to our concepts
[Kant, by Critchley]
|
4708
|
Kant thought he had refuted scepticism, but his critics say he is a sceptic, for rejecting reality
[O'Grady on Kant]
|
6578
|
For Kant, experience is relative to a scheme, but there are no further possible schemes
[Kant, by Fogelin]
|
4086
|
Kant thought that consciousness depends on self-consciousness ('apperception')
[Kant, by Crane]
|
2869
|
Kant's only answer as to how synthetic a priori judgements are possible was that we have a 'faculty'!
[Nietzsche on Kant]
|
9751
|
To some extent we must view ourselves as noumena
[Kant, by Korsgaard]
|
9756
|
We must be free, because we can act against our strongest desires
[Kant, by Korsgaard]
|
8687
|
Kantian 'intuition' is the bridge between pure reason and its application to sense experiences
[Kant, by Friend]
|
21759
|
Kant deduced the categories from our judgements, and then as preconditions of experience
[Kant, by Houlgate]
|
19655
|
Kant says we can describe the categories of thought, but Hegel claims to deduce them
[Kant, by Meillassoux]
|
15627
|
Kant showed that the understanding (unlike reason) concerns what is finite and conditioned
[Kant, by Hegel]
|
16898
|
Understanding essentially involves singular elements
[Kant, by Burge]
|
22003
|
We have no sensual experience of time and space, so they must be 'ideal'
[Kant, by Pinkard]
|
21456
|
Objects having to be experiencable is not the same as full idealism
[Gardner on Kant]
|
6909
|
In Kantian idealism, objects fit understanding, not vice versa
[Kant, by Feuerbach]
|
6910
|
Kant's idealism is a limited idealism based on the viewpoint of empiricism
[Kant, by Feuerbach]
|
21440
|
For Kant experience is either structured like reality, or generates reality's structure
[Kant, by Gardner]
|
22006
|
The concepts that make judgeable experiences possible are created spontaneously
[Kant, by Pinkard]
|
9156
|
Kant's shift of view enables us to see a priority in terms of mental capacity, not truth and propositions
[Burge on Kant]
|
7575
|
A priori knowledge is limited to objects of possible experience
[Kant, by Jolley]
|
5404
|
Two plus two objects make four objects even if experience is impossible, so Kant is wrong
[Russell on Kant]
|
3342
|
Seeing that only one parallel can be drawn to a line through a given point is clearly synthetic a priori
[Kant, by Benardete,JA]
|
20943
|
Kant bases the synthetic a priori on the categories of oneness and manyness
[Kant, by Bowie]
|
5402
|
Kant showed that we have a priori knowledge which is not purely analytic
[Kant, by Russell]
|
5203
|
We can think of 7 and 5 without 12, but it is still a contradiction to deny 7+5=12
[Ayer on Kant]
|
5403
|
If, as Kant says, arithmetic and logic are contributed by us, they could change if we did
[Russell on Kant]
|
18262
|
For Kant analytic knowledge needs complex concepts, but the a priori can rest on the simple
[Coffa on Kant]
|
2774
|
Kant says the cognitive and sensory elements in experience can't be separated
[Kant, by Dancy,J]
|
22005
|
Associations and causes cannot explain content, which needs norms of judgement
[Kant, by Pinkard]
|
6577
|
For Kant, our conceptual scheme is disastrous when it reaches beyond experience
[Kant, by Fogelin]
|
8736
|
Kantian intuitions are of particulars, and they give immediate knowledge
[Kant, by Shapiro]
|
21439
|
Religion and legislation can only be respected if they accept free and public examination
[Kant]
|
18794
|
Logic has precise boundaries, and is the formal rules for all thinking
[Kant]
|
21438
|
Metaphysics might do better to match objects to our cognition (and not start with the objects)
[Kant]
|
9345
|
Propositions involving necessity are a priori, and pure a priori if they only derive from other necessities
[Kant]
|
12414
|
A priori knowledge occurs absolutely independently of all experience
[Kant]
|
16893
|
The apriori is independent of its sources, and marked by necessity and generality
[Kant, by Burge]
|
9346
|
Judgements which are essentially and strictly universal reveal our faculty of a priori cognition
[Kant]
|
9347
|
A priori knowledge is indispensable for the possibility and certainty of experience
[Kant]
|
5523
|
Causation obviously involves necessity, so it cannot just be frequent association
[Kant]
|
9348
|
Experienceless bodies have space; propertyless bodies have substance; this must be seen a priori
[Kant]
|
9349
|
A dove cutting through the air, might think it could fly better in airless space (which Plato attempted)
[Kant]
|
9350
|
Our reason mostly analyses concepts we already have of objects
[Kant]
|
9351
|
One sort of a priori knowledge just analyses given concepts, but another ventures further
[Kant]
|
20291
|
If the predicate is contained in the subject of a judgement, it is analytic; otherwise synthetic
[Kant]
|
20292
|
Analytic judgements clarify, by analysing the subject into its component predicates
[Kant]
|
18259
|
Analysis is becoming self-conscious about our concepts
[Kant]
|
5524
|
Maths must be a priori because it is necessary, and that cannot be derived from experience
[Kant]
|
5525
|
No analysis of the sum of seven and five will in itself reveal twelve
[Kant]
|
5527
|
That a straight line is the shortest is synthetic, as straight does not imply any quantity
[Kant]
|
5526
|
With large numbers it is obvious that we could never find the sum by analysing the concepts
[Kant]
|
5528
|
That force and counter-force are equal is necessary, and a priori synthetic
[Kant]
|
5529
|
The real problem of pure reason is: how are a priori synthetic judgments possible?
[Kant]
|
16611
|
You just can't stop metaphysical speculation, in any mature mind
[Kant]
|
5530
|
Analysis of our concepts is merely a preparation for proper a priori metaphysics
[Kant]
|
21442
|
'Transcendental' cognition concerns what can be known a priori of its mode
[Kant]
|
23454
|
Appearances have a 'form', which indicates a relational order
[Kant]
|
17736
|
We can't learn of space through experience; experience of space needs its representation
[Kant]
|
5531
|
Space is an a priori necessary basic intuition, as we cannot imagine its absence
[Kant]
|
5532
|
Colours and tastes are not qualities of things, but alterations of the subject
[Kant]
|
5533
|
Objects in themselves are not known to us at all
[Kant]
|
5534
|
One can never imagine appearances without time, so it is given a priori
[Kant]
|
5535
|
That times cannot be simultaneous is synthetic, so it is known by intuition, not analysis
[Kant]
|
5536
|
If space and time exist absolutely, we must assume the existence of two pointless non-entities
[Kant]
|
19386
|
Without the subject or the senses, space and time vanish, as their appearances disappear
[Kant]
|
21446
|
If we disappeared, then all relations of objects, and time and space themselves, disappear too
[Kant]
|
21445
|
Even the most perfect intuition gets no closer to things in themselves
[Kant]
|
5537
|
That two lines cannot enclose a space is an intuitive a priori synthetic proposition
[Kant]
|
5538
|
Understanding has no intuitions, and senses no thought, so knowledge needs their unity
[Kant]
|
17616
|
Thoughts without content are empty, intuitions without concepts are blind
[Kant]
|
5539
|
We must presuppose that truth is agreement of cognition with its objects
[Kant]
|
5540
|
Cleverness is shown in knowing what can reasonably be asked
[Kant]
|
5541
|
A sufficient but general sign of truth cannot possibly be provided
[Kant]
|
5542
|
There must be a general content-free account of truth in the rules of logic
[Kant]
|
5543
|
All human cognition is through concepts
[Kant]
|
22443
|
We are seldom aware of imagination, but we would have no cognition at all without it
[Kant]
|
5544
|
Four groups of categories of concept: Quantity, Quality, Relation and Modality
[Kant]
|
5545
|
Appearances give rules of what usually happens, but cause involves necessity
[Kant]
|
5546
|
Are a priori concepts necessary as a precondition for something to be an object?
[Kant]
|
5547
|
The categories are objectively valid, because they make experience possible
[Kant]
|
21449
|
The a priori concept of objects in general is the ground of experience
[Kant]
|
21448
|
Categories are general concepts of objects, which determine the way in which they are experienced
[Kant]
|
21450
|
Representation would be impossible without the 'I think' that accompanies it
[Kant]
|
5549
|
Mental representations would not be mine if they did not belong to a unified self-consciousness
[Kant]
|
5550
|
A substance could exist as a subject, but not as a mere predicate
[Kant]
|
5551
|
I have no cognition of myself as I am, but only as I appear to myself
[Kant]
|
23697
|
I exist just as an intelligence aware of its faculty for combination
[Kant]
|
5552
|
Categories are concepts that prescribe laws a priori to appearances
[Kant]
|
5553
|
Either experience creates concepts, or concepts make experience possible
[Kant]
|
5554
|
Categories are necessary, so can't be implanted in us to agree with natural laws
[Kant]
|
5555
|
Philosophical examples rarely fit rules properly, and lead to inflexibility
[Kant]
|
5556
|
A pure concept of the understanding can never become an image
[Kant]
|
8737
|
Kant suggested that arithmetic has no axioms
[Kant, by Shapiro]
|
5557
|
Axioms ought to be synthetic a priori propositions
[Kant]
|
2795
|
If 7+5=12 is analytic, then an infinity of other ways to reach 12 have to be analytic
[Kant, by Dancy,J]
|
5558
|
7+5=12 is not analytic, because 12 is not contained in 7 or 5 or their combination
[Kant]
|
5559
|
Sensations are a posteriori, but that they come in degrees is known a priori
[Kant]
|
5560
|
The three modes of time are persistence, succession and simultaneity
[Kant]
|
21451
|
All appearances need substance, as that which persists through change
[Kant]
|
5561
|
If time involved succession, we must think of another time in which succession occurs
[Kant]
|
5562
|
Experience is only possible because we subject appearances to causal laws
[Kant]
|
5563
|
The principle of sufficient reason is the ground of possible experience in time
[Kant]
|
14560
|
A ball denting a pillow seems like simultaneous cause and effect, though time identifies which is cause
[Kant]
|
5564
|
Substance must exist, as the persisting substratum of the process of change
[Kant]
|
5565
|
Proof of the principle of sufficient reason cannot be found
[Kant]
|
18796
|
Formal experience conditions show what is possible, and general conditions what is necessary
[Kant]
|
18797
|
Modalities do not augment our concepts; they express their relation to cognition
[Kant]
|
21452
|
I can only determine my existence in time via external things
[Kant]
|
5566
|
Is the possible greater than the actual, and the actual greater than the necessary?
[Kant]
|
8740
|
Geometry would just be an idle game without its connection to our intuition
[Kant]
|
17617
|
Maths is a priori, but without its relation to empirical objects it is meaningless
[Kant]
|
5567
|
A priori the understanding can only anticipate possible experiences
[Kant]
|
5568
|
We cannot know things in themselves, but are confined to appearances
[Kant]
|
5569
|
We cannot represent objects unless we combine concepts with intuitions
[Kant]
|
14509
|
If we ignore differences between water drops, we still distinguish them by their location
[Kant]
|
5570
|
Self-knowledge can only be inner sensation, and thus appearance
[Kant]
|
22274
|
'Transcendent' is beyond experience, and 'transcendental' is concealed within experience
[Kant, by Potter]
|
5571
|
Reason contains within itself certain underived concepts and principles
[Kant]
|
5572
|
Reason has logical and transcendental faculties
[Kant]
|
5573
|
Reason is distinct from understanding, and is the faculty of rules or principles
[Kant]
|
5575
|
An obvious idea is a constitution based on maximum mutual freedom for citizens
[Kant]
|
5576
|
We cannot derive moral laws from experience, as it is the mother of illusion
[Kant]
|
5577
|
Transcendental ideas require unity of the subject, conditions of appearance, and objects of thought
[Kant]
|
5578
|
Pure reason deals with concepts in the understanding, not with objects
[Kant]
|
5581
|
We have proved that bodies are appearances of the outer senses, not things in themselves
[Kant]
|
5582
|
As balls communicate motion, so substances could communicate consciousness, but not retain identity
[Kant]
|
5583
|
We need an account of the self based on rational principles, to avoid materialism
[Kant]
|
5584
|
All objections are dogmatic (against propositions), or critical (against proofs), or sceptical
[Kant]
|
5585
|
Soul and body connect physically, or by harmony, or by assistance
[Kant]
|
5586
|
The voyage of reason may go only as far as the coastline of experience reaches
[Kant]
|
2965
|
For Kant the self is a purely formal idea, not a substance
[Kant, by Lockwood]
|
5589
|
Neither materialism nor spiritualism can reveal the separate existence of the soul
[Kant]
|
5590
|
'I think therefore I am' is an identity, not an inference (as there is no major premise)
[Kant]
|
5591
|
Reason must assume as necessary that everything in a living organism has a proportionate purpose
[Kant]
|
5592
|
Scepticism is the euthanasia of pure reason
[Kant]
|
5593
|
Reason generates no concepts, but frees them from their link to experience in the understanding
[Kant]
|
5594
|
Natural necessity is the unconditioned necessity of appearances
[Kant]
|
21454
|
The battle of the antinomies is usually won by the attacker, and lost by any defender
[Kant]
|
5595
|
Scepticism is absurd in maths, where there are no hidden false assertions
[Kant]
|
5596
|
We must assume an absolute causal spontaneity beginning from itself
[Kant]
|
5597
|
If there is a first beginning, there can be other sequences initiated from nothing
[Kant]
|
5598
|
If you prove God cosmologically, by a regress in the sequences of causes, you can't abandon causes at the end
[Kant]
|
5599
|
Without God, creation and free will, morality would be empty
[Kant]
|
5600
|
Human reason considers all knowledge as belonging to a possible system
[Kant]
|
21956
|
Everything we intuit is merely a representation, with no external existence (Transcendental Idealism)
[Kant]
|
5601
|
There are possible inhabitants of the moon, but they are just possible experiences
[Kant]
|
5602
|
The free dialectic opposition of arguments is an invaluable part of the sceptical method
[Kant]
|
21455
|
We only understand what exists, and can find no sign of what ought to be in nature
[Kant]
|
5603
|
Pure reason exists outside of time
[Kant]
|
5604
|
In reason things can only begin if they are voluntary
[Kant]
|
5605
|
Moral blame is based on reason, since a reason is a cause which should have been followed
[Kant]
|
5606
|
Freedom and natural necessity do not contradict, as they relate to different conditions
[Kant]
|
5607
|
Only three proofs of God: the physico-theological (evidence), the cosmological (existence), the ontological (a priori)
[Kant]
|
18795
|
A concept is logically possible if non-contradictory (but may not be actually possible)
[Kant]
|
5608
|
Is "This thing exists" analytic or synthetic?
[Kant]
|
5609
|
If 'this exists' is analytic, either the thing is a thought, or you have presupposed its existence
[Kant]
|
5610
|
If an existential proposition is synthetic, you must be able to cancel its predicate without contradiction
[Kant]
|
5611
|
Being is not a real predicate, that adds something to a concept
[Kant]
|
5612
|
You add nothing to the concept of God or coins if you say they exist
[Kant]
|
4475
|
Saying a thing 'is' adds nothing to it - otherwise if my concept exists, it isn't the same as my concept
[Kant]
|
5613
|
The analytic mark of possibility is that it does not generate a contradiction
[Kant]
|
5615
|
Extension and impenetrability together make the concept of matter
[Kant]
|
5616
|
Pure reason is only concerned with itself because it deals with understandings, not objects
[Kant]
|
5617
|
Knowledge begins with intuitions, moves to concepts, and ends with ideas
[Kant]
|
16899
|
Geometrical truth comes from a general schema abstracted from a particular object
[Kant, by Burge]
|
18264
|
We know the shape of a cone from its concept, but we don't know its colour
[Kant]
|
5618
|
Definitions exhibit the exhaustive concept of a thing within its boundaries
[Kant]
|
5619
|
No a priori concept can be defined
[Kant]
|
5620
|
Philosophy has no axioms, as it is just rational cognition of concepts
[Kant]
|
5621
|
The existence of reason depends on the freedom of citizens to agree, doubt and veto ideas
[Kant]
|
5622
|
The boundaries of reason can only be determined a priori
[Kant]
|
5623
|
If I know the earth is a sphere, and I am on it, I can work out its area from a small part
[Kant]
|
5624
|
We possess synthetic a priori knowledge in our principles which anticipate experience
[Kant]
|
5626
|
An a priori principle of persistence anticipates all experience
[Kant]
|
23696
|
Transcendental cognition is that a priori thought which shows how the a priori is applicable or possible
[Kant]
|
5627
|
I can express the motion of my body in a single point, but that doesn't mean it is a simple substance
[Kant]
|
5628
|
Reason hates to be limited in its speculations
[Kant]
|
5629
|
If a proposition implies any false consequences, then it is false
[Kant]
|
5630
|
Our concept of an incorporeal nature is merely negative
[Kant]
|
5631
|
Reason is only interested in knowledge, actions and hopes
[Kant]
|
5632
|
Moral laws are commands, which must involve promises and threats, which only God could provide
[Kant]
|
5633
|
We don't accept duties as coming from God, but assume they are divine because they are duties
[Kant]
|
5634
|
Opinion is subjectively and objectively insufficient; belief is subjective but not objective; knowledge is both
[Kant]
|
5635
|
In ordinary life the highest philosophy is no better than common understanding
[Kant]
|
21457
|
Reason has two separate objects, morality and freedom, and nature, which ultimately unite
[Kant]
|
21954
|
Metaphysics is a systematic account of everything that can be known a priori
[Kant]
|
21058
|
Enlightenment requires the free use of reason in the public realm
[Kant]
|
7591
|
Kant completed Grotius's project of a non-religious basis for natural law
[Scruton on Kant]
|
7673
|
Retributive punishment is better than being sent to hospital for your crimes
[Kant, by Berlin]
|
4345
|
For Kant, even a person who lacks all sympathy for others still has a motive for benevolence
[Kant, by Hursthouse]
|
4251
|
If we are required to give moral thought the highest priority, this gives morality no content
[Williams,B on Kant]
|
16004
|
If Kant lives by self-administered laws, this is as feeble as self-administered punishments
[Kierkegaard on Kant]
|
7105
|
If 'maxims' are deeper underlying intentions, Kant can be read as a virtue theorist
[Kant, by Statman]
|
4024
|
Kant follows Rousseau in defining freedom and morality in terms of each other
[Taylor,C on Kant]
|
7625
|
We can ask how rational goodness is, but also why is rationality good
[Putnam on Kant]
|
8026
|
Almost any precept can be consistently universalized
[MacIntyre on Kant]
|
22050
|
The maxim of an action is chosen, and not externally imposed
[Kant, by Bowie]
|
6694
|
Always treat humanity as an end and never as a means only
[Kant]
|
5074
|
Kant united religion and philosophy, by basing obedience to law on reason instead of faith
[Taylor,R on Kant]
|
8024
|
The categorical imperative says nothing about what our activities and ends should be
[MacIntyre on Kant]
|
22390
|
Kant thought human nature was pure hedonism, so virtue is only possible via the categorical imperative
[Foot on Kant]
|
9749
|
Our rational choices confer value, arising from the sense that we ourselves are important
[Kant, by Korsgaard]
|
7671
|
Values are created by human choices, and are not some intrinsic quality, out there
[Kant, by Berlin]
|
9750
|
We must only value what others find acceptable
[Kant, by Korsgaard]
|
7670
|
Kant is the father of the notion of exploitation as an evil
[Kant, by Berlin]
|
20160
|
Kant focuses exclusively on human values, and neglects cultural and personal values
[Kekes on Kant]
|
21029
|
Kantian respect is for humanity and reason (not from love or sympathy or solidarity)
[Kant, by Sandel]
|
7674
|
Generosity and pity are vices, because they falsely imply one person's superiority to another
[Kant, by Berlin]
|
5295
|
Kant was happy with 'good will', even if it had no result
[Kant, by Marx/Engels]
|
6695
|
Kant has to attribute high moral worth to some deeply unattractive human lives
[Kant, by Graham]
|
8028
|
Kantian duty seems to imply conformism with authority
[MacIntyre on Kant]
|
4413
|
The categorical imperative smells of cruelty
[Nietzsche on Kant]
|
15673
|
The intuition behind the categorical imperative is that one ought not to make an exception of oneself
[Kant, by Finlayson]
|
8068
|
Universalising a maxim needs to first stipulate the right description for the action
[Anscombe on Kant]
|
8025
|
The categorical imperative will not suggest maxims suitable for testing
[MacIntyre on Kant]
|
3762
|
Why couldn't all rational beings accept outrageously immoral rules of conduct?
[Mill on Kant]
|
8027
|
I can universalize a selfish maxim, if it is expressed in a way that only applies to me
[MacIntyre on Kant]
|
8046
|
We can only know we should obey God if we already have moral standards for judging God
[Kant, by MacIntyre]
|
20714
|
God is not proved by reason, but is a postulate of moral thinking
[Kant, by Davies,B]
|
5296
|
Kant made the political will into a pure self-determined "free" will
[Kant, by Marx/Engels]
|
24011
|
Kant thought emotions are too random and passive to be part of morality
[Kant, by Williams,B]
|
3544
|
Kant thinks virtue becomes passive, and hence morally unaccountable
[Kant, by Annas]
|
3710
|
The only purely good thing is a good will
[Kant]
|
3711
|
Only a good will makes us worthy of happiness
[Kant]
|
3712
|
A good will is not good because of what it achieves
[Kant]
|
3713
|
The function of reason is to produce a good will
[Kant]
|
3714
|
Dutiful actions are judged not by purpose, but by the maxim followed
[Kant]
|
3715
|
Other causes can produce nice results, so morality must consist in the law, found only in rational beings
[Kant]
|
3717
|
Reverence is awareness of a value which demolishes my self-love
[Kant]
|
3716
|
Act according to a maxim you can will as a universal law
[Kant]
|
3718
|
Telling the truth from duty is quite different from doing so to avoid inconvenience
[Kant]
|
3719
|
If lying were the universal law it would make promises impossible
[Kant]
|
3720
|
We may claim noble motives, but we cannot penetrate our secret impulses
[Kant]
|
3721
|
We judge God to be good by a priori standards of moral perfection
[Kant]
|
3722
|
Metaphysics goes beyond the empirical, so doesn't need examples
[Kant]
|
3723
|
There are no imperatives for a holy will, as the will is in harmony with moral law
[Kant]
|
3724
|
A categorical imperative sees an action as necessary purely for its own sake
[Kant]
|
3725
|
The good of an action is in the mind of the doer, not the consequences
[Kant]
|
3726
|
The categorical imperative is a practical synthetic a priori proposition
[Kant]
|
3727
|
Act as if your maxim were to become a universal law of nature
[Kant]
|
3728
|
Suicide, false promises, neglected talent, and lack of charity all involve contradictions of principle
[Kant, by PG]
|
3729
|
Our inclinations are not innately desirable; in fact most rational beings would like to be rid of them
[Kant]
|
3730
|
Non-rational beings only have a relative value, as means rather than as ends
[Kant]
|
3731
|
Rational beings necessarily conceive their own existence as an end in itself
[Kant]
|
3732
|
Rational beings have a right to share in the end of an action, not just be part of the means
[Kant]
|
3733
|
The 'golden rule' cannot be a universal law as it implies no duties
[Kant]
|
3735
|
Men are subject to laws which are both self-made and universal
[Kant]
|
3736
|
Virtue lets a rational being make universal law, and share in the kingdom of ends
[Kant]
|
3737
|
The will is good if its universalised maxim is never in conflict with itself
[Kant]
|
3738
|
The hallmark of rationality is setting itself an end
[Kant]
|
3739
|
Free will is a kind of causality which works independently of other causes
[Kant]
|
3740
|
We cannot conceive of reason as being externally controlled
[Kant]
|
3741
|
We shall never be able to comprehend how freedom is possible
[Kant]
|
22008
|
Always treat yourself and others as an end, and never simply as a means
[Kant]
|
22009
|
Morality is the creation of the laws that enable a Kingdom of Ends
[Kant]
|
20715
|
It is basic that moral actions must be done from duty
[Kant]
|
4344
|
Actions where people spread happiness because they enjoy it have no genuine moral worth
[Kant]
|
19739
|
The maxim for suicide is committed to the value of life, and is thus contradictory
[Kant]
|
15308
|
Science is the reduction of diverse forces and powers to a smaller number that explain them
[Kant]
|
21407
|
Equality is not being bound in ways you cannot bind others
[Kant]
|
21080
|
Actions are right if the maxim respects universal mutual freedoms
[Kant]
|
21081
|
We are equipped with the a priori intuitions needed for the concept of right
[Kant]
|
21406
|
Because there is only one human reason, there can only be one true philosophy from principles
[Kant]
|
21082
|
A power-based state of nature may not be unjust, but there is no justice without competent judges
[Kant]
|
21083
|
Women have no role in politics
[Kant]
|
21084
|
In the contract people lose their rights, but immediately regain them, in the new commonwealth
[Kant]
|
21085
|
The church has a political role, by offering a supreme power over people
[Kant]
|
21086
|
Hereditary nobility has not been earned, and probably won't be earned
[Kant]
|
21088
|
Justice asserts the death penalty for murder, from a priori laws
[Kant]
|
21087
|
Human life is pointless without justice
[Kant]
|
21089
|
Monarchs have the highest power; autocrats have complete power
[Kant]
|
21090
|
If someone has largely made something, then they own it
[Kant]
|
21408
|
For any subject, its system of non-experiential concepts needs a metaphysics
[Kant]
|
21409
|
Moral principles do not involve feelings
[Kant]
|
21410
|
That a concept is not self-contradictory does not make what it represents possible
[Kant]
|
21411
|
A duty of virtue is a duty which is also an end
[Kant]
|
21412
|
Humans are distinguished from animals by their capacity to set themselves any sort of end
[Kant]
|
21413
|
Virtue is strong maxims for duty
[Kant]
|
21414
|
The supreme principle of virtue is to find universal laws for ends
[Kant]
|
21415
|
Duty is impossible without prior moral feeling, conscience, love and self-respect
[Kant]
|
21416
|
Philosophers should not offer multiple proofs - suggesting the weakness of each of them
[Kant]
|
21417
|
How do we distinguish a mean? The extremes can involve quite different maxims
[Kant]
|
21418
|
There is one principle of virtues; the virtues are distinguished by their objects
[Kant]
|
21419
|
If virtue becomes a habit, that is a loss of the freedom needed for adopting maxims
[Kant]
|
21420
|
If virtue is the mean between vices, then virtue is just the vanishing of vice
[Kant]
|
21421
|
Within nature man is unimportant, but as moral person he is above any price
[Kant]
|
21422
|
Moral self-knowledge is the beginning of all human wisdom
[Kant]
|
21423
|
Men can only have duties to those who qualify as persons
[Kant]
|
21424
|
Cruelty to animals is bad because it dulls our empathy for pain in humans
[Kant]
|
21425
|
We can love without respect, and show respect without love
[Kant]
|
21428
|
Respect is purely negative (of not exalting oneself over others), and is thus a duty of Right
[Kant]
|
21427
|
Respect is limiting our self-esteem by attending to the human dignity of other persons
[Kant]
|
21426
|
Love urges us to get closer to people, but respect to keep our distance
[Kant]
|
21430
|
Disrespect is using a person as a mere means to my own ends
[Kant]
|
21429
|
The duty of love is to makes the ends of others one's own
[Kant]
|
21431
|
The love of man is required in order to present the world as a beautiful and perfect moral whole
[Kant]
|
21433
|
Violation of rights deserves punishment, which is vengeance, rather than restitution
[Kant]
|
21434
|
We must respect the humanity even in a vicious criminal
[Kant]
|
21435
|
Man is both social, and unsociable
[Kant]
|
21436
|
We are obliged to show the social virtues, but at least they make a virtuous disposition fashionable
[Kant]
|
21437
|
All morality directs the will to love of others' ends, and respect for others' rights
[Kant]
|
20569
|
Kant made the social contract international and cosmopolitan
[Kant, by Oksala]
|
21073
|
Hiring soldiers is to use them as instruments, ignoring their personal rights
[Kant]
|
21074
|
Some trust in the enemy is needed during wartime, or peace would be impossible
[Kant]
|
21075
|
The state of nature always involves the threat of war
[Kant]
|
21076
|
Equality is where you cannot impose a legal obligation you yourself wouldn't endure
[Kant]
|
21077
|
Each nation should, from self-interest, join an international security constitution
[Kant]
|
21079
|
The a priori general will of a people shows what is right
[Kant]
|
21078
|
A constitution must always be improved when necessary
[Kant]
|
20570
|
There is now a growing universal community, and violations of rights are felt everywhere
[Kant]
|
20571
|
There are political and inter-national rights, but also universal cosmopolitan rights
[Kant]
|
21971
|
Transcendental philosophy is the subject becoming the originator of unified reality
[Kant]
|
18235
|
Only human reason can confer value on our choices
[Kant, by Korsgaard]
|
18675
|
Kant may rate two things as finally valuable: having a good will, and deserving happiness
[Orsi on Kant]
|
22007
|
An autonomous agent has dignity [Würde], which has absolute worth
[Kant, by Pinkard]
|
18234
|
The good will is unconditionally good, because it is the only possible source of value
[Kant, by Korsgaard]
|
6183
|
Can pure reason determine the will, or are empirical conditions relevant?
[Kant]
|
6181
|
Necessity cannot be extracted from an empirical proposition
[Kant]
|
6207
|
What fills me with awe are the starry heavens above me and the moral law within me
[Kant]
|
6184
|
Consistency is the highest obligation of a philosopher
[Kant]
|
6185
|
No one would lend money unless a universal law made it secure, even after death
[Kant]
|
6186
|
A holy will is incapable of any maxims which conflict with the moral law
[Kant]
|
6187
|
Universality determines the will, and hence extends self-love into altruism
[Kant]
|
6188
|
A permanent natural order could not universalise a rule permitting suicide
[Kant]
|
6192
|
Good or evil cannot be a thing, but only a maxim of action, making the person good or evil
[Kant]
|
6193
|
Our happiness is all that matters, not as a sensation, but as satisfaction with our whole existence
[Kant]
|
6194
|
The highest worth for human beings lies in dispositions, not just actions
[Kant]
|
6190
|
The sole objects of practical reason are the good and the evil
[Kant]
|
6191
|
The will is the faculty of purposes, which guide desires according to principles
[Kant]
|
6197
|
Morality involves duty and respect for law, not love of the outcome
[Kant]
|
6196
|
People cannot come to morality through feeling, because morality must not be sensuous
[Kant]
|
6195
|
Reason cannot solve the problem of why a law should motivate the will
[Kant]
|
6198
|
Virtue is the supreme state of our pursuit of happiness, and so is supreme good
[Kant]
|
1456
|
Moral law is holy, and the best we can do is achieve virtue through respect for the law
[Kant]
|
1452
|
Happiness is the condition of a rational being for whom everything goes as they wish
[Kant]
|
1454
|
Morality is not about making ourselves happy, but about being worthy of happiness
[Kant]
|
6201
|
Everyone (even God) must treat rational beings as ends in themselves, and not just as means
[Kant]
|
6199
|
Obligation does not rest on the existence of God, but on the autonomy of reason
[Kant]
|
1453
|
We have to postulate something outside nature which makes happiness coincide with morality
[Kant]
|
1455
|
Belief in justice requires belief in a place for justice (heaven), a time (eternity), and a cause (God)
[Kant, by PG]
|
6200
|
Wisdom is knowing the highest good, and conforming the will to it
[Kant]
|
6205
|
To know if this world must have been created by God, we would need to know all other possible worlds
[Kant]
|
6204
|
Using God to explain nature is referring to something inconceivable to explain what is in front of you
[Kant]
|
6206
|
From our limited knowledge we can infer great virtues in God, but not ultimate ones
[Kant]
|
6202
|
In all naturalistic concepts of God, if you remove the human qualities there is nothing left
[Kant]
|
6203
|
Metaphysics is just a priori universal principles of physics
[Kant]
|
16926
|
Analytic judgements say clearly what was in the concept of the subject
[Kant]
|
16927
|
Analytic judgement rests on contradiction, since the predicate cannot be denied of the subject
[Kant]
|
16928
|
Mathematics cannot be empirical because it is necessary, and that has to be a priori
[Kant]
|
16929
|
7+5 = 12 is not analytic, because no analysis of 7+5 will reveal the concept of 12
[Kant]
|
16930
|
Geometry is not analytic, because a line's being 'straight' is a quality
[Kant]
|
16931
|
Metaphysics is generating a priori knowledge by intuition and concepts, leading to the synthetic
[Kant]
|
16910
|
Mathematics can only start from an a priori intuition which is not empirical but pure
[Kant]
|
16912
|
Some concepts can be made a priori, which are general thoughts of objects, like quantity or cause
[Kant]
|
16913
|
I can't intuit a present thing in itself, because the properties can't enter my representations
[Kant]
|
16911
|
Intuition is a representation that depends on the presence of the object
[Kant]
|
16914
|
A priori intuition of objects is only possible by containing the form of my sensibility
[Kant]
|
16915
|
A priori intuitions can only concern the objects of our senses
[Kant]
|
16916
|
A priori synthetic knowledge is only of appearances, not of things in themselves
[Kant]
|
16917
|
All necessary mathematical judgements are based on intuitions of space and time
[Kant]
|
16919
|
Geometry rests on our intuition of space
[Kant]
|
16918
|
Mathematics cannot proceed just by the analysis of concepts
[Kant]
|
16920
|
Numbers are formed by addition of units in time
[Kant]
|
16921
|
If all empirical sensation of bodies is removed, space and time are still left
[Kant]
|
16922
|
Space must have three dimensions, because only three lines can meet at right angles
[Kant]
|
16923
|
I admit there are bodies outside us
[Kant]
|
16924
|
I count the primary features of things (as well as the secondary ones) as mere appearances
[Kant]
|
21447
|
I can make no sense of the red experience being similar to the quality in the object
[Kant]
|
16925
|
Appearance gives truth, as long as it is only used within experience
[Kant]
|
11833
|
The substance, once the predicates are removed, remains unknown to us
[Kant]
|
21441
|
'Transcendental' is not beyond experience, but a prerequisite of experience
[Kant]
|
21955
|
My dogmatic slumber was first interrupted by David Hume
[Kant]
|
21957
|
'Transcendental' concerns how we know, rather than what we know
[Kant]
|
22441
|
The law will protect you if you tell a truth which results in murder
[Kant]
|
22442
|
If lies were ever acceptable, with would undermine all duties based on contract
[Kant]
|
21060
|
It can't be a duty to strive after the impossible
[Kant]
|
21059
|
General rules of action also need a judgement about when to apply them
[Kant]
|
21061
|
Duty does not aim at an end, but gives rise to universal happiness as aim of the will
[Kant]
|
21062
|
The will's motive is the absolute law itself, and moral feeling is receptivity to law
[Kant]
|
21063
|
Personal contracts are for some end, but a civil state contract involves a duty to share
[Kant]
|
21064
|
A lawful civil state must embody freedom, equality and independence for its members
[Kant]
|
21065
|
You can't make a contract renouncing your right to make contracts!
[Kant]
|
21066
|
Citizens can rise to any rank that talent, effort and luck can achieve
[Kant]
|
21067
|
A citizen must control his own life, and possess property or an important skill
[Kant]
|
21068
|
There must be a unanimous contract that citizens accept majority decisions
[Kant]
|
21069
|
A contract is theoretical, but it can guide rulers to make laws which the whole people will accept
[Kant]
|
21070
|
A law is unjust if the whole people could not possibly agree to it
[Kant]
|
21071
|
There can be no restraints on freedom if reason does not reveal some basic rights
[Kant]
|
21072
|
The people (who have to fight) and not the head of state should declare a war
[Kant]
|
21053
|
The manifest will in the world of phenomena has to conform to the laws of nature
[Kant]
|
21054
|
Reason enables the unbounded extension of our rules and intentions
[Kant]
|
21055
|
Our aim is a constitution which combines maximum freedom with strong restraint
[Kant]
|
21056
|
The vitality of business needs maximum freedom (while avoiding harm to others)
[Kant]
|
21057
|
The highest ideal of social progress is a universal cosmopolitan existence
[Kant]
|
22275
|
Logic gives us the necessary rules which show us how we ought to think
[Kant]
|
18261
|
A simplification which is complete constitutes a definition
[Kant]
|
18260
|
If we knew what we know, we would be astonished
[Kant]
|