Combining Texts

Ideas for 'The Discourses', 'The Logical Form of Action Sentences' and 'Critique of Pure Reason'

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2 ideas

10. Modality / A. Necessity / 1. Types of Modality
Modalities do not augment our concepts; they express their relation to cognition [Kant]
     Full Idea: The categories of modality have this peculiarity: as a determination of the object they do not augment the concept to which they are ascribed in the least, but rather express only the relation to the faculty of cognition.
     From: Immanuel Kant (Critique of Pure Reason [1781], B266/A219)
     A reaction: A nice summary of Kant's view of modality. It does not arise out of reality, or even out of the nature of our concepts, but out of the relations which our concepts enter into, in the processes of understanding. (Do I understand that?)
10. Modality / A. Necessity / 7. Natural Necessity
Natural necessity is the unconditioned necessity of appearances [Kant]
     Full Idea: The unconditioned necessity of appearances can be called natural necessity.
     From: Immanuel Kant (Critique of Pure Reason [1781], B447/A419)
     A reaction: Kant can call it what he likes, but this isn't what we mean by 'natural necessity'. We mean a feature of reality, even if we can only use appearances to infer that feature. As usual, they can't tell their ontology from their epistemology.