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Single Idea 6160

[filed under theme 7. Existence / E. Categories / 2. Categorisation ]

Full Idea

It is unclear whether Kant says the mind imposes space and time and categories, such as substance and cause and effect, on empirical objects, or whether our mind restricts our cognition to such features of noumenal objects. Imposition, say the majority.

Gist of Idea

Does Kant say the mind imposes categories, or that it restricts us to them?

Source

comment on Immanuel Kant (Critique of Pure Reason [1781]) by Mark Rowlands - Externalism Ch.3

Book Ref

Rowlands,Mark: 'Externalism' [Acumen 2003], p.36


A Reaction

Rowlands says, rightly, that Kant probably thought the mind imposed categories, but that he should have said that it restricts us to them. The imposition view leads to idealism, anti-realism and madness; restriction is common sense, really.


The 17 ideas with the same theme [how the mind approaches putting things into categories]:

We only succeed in cutting if we use appropriate tools, not if we approach it randomly [Plato]
I revere anyone who can discern a single thing that encompasses many things [Plato]
We can't categorise things by their real essences, because these are unknown [Locke]
If we discovered real essences, we would still categorise things by the external appearance [Locke]
Does Kant say the mind imposes categories, or that it restricts us to them? [Rowlands on Kant]
Classification can only ever be for a particular purpose [James]
Infant brains appear to have inbuilt ontological categories [Goldman]
We should abandon classifying by pigeon-holes, and classify around paradigms [Sainsbury]
We should aim for a classification which tells us as much as possible about the object [Dupré]
Brain lesions can erase whole categories of perception, suggesting they are hard-wired [Carter,R]
Even fairly simple animals make judgements based on categories [Gelman]
Children accept real stable categories, with nonobvious potential that gives causal explanations [Gelman]
The aim is that everything should belong in some ontological category or other [Westerhoff]
Several words may label a category; one word can name several categories; some categories lack words [Ellen]
For each category of objects (such as 'dog') an individual seems to have several concepts [Machery]
A thing is classified if its features are likely to be generated by that category's causal laws [Machery]
Are quick and slow categorisation the same process, or quite different? [Machery]