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3 ideas
| 4708 | Kant thought he had refuted scepticism, but his critics say he is a sceptic, for rejecting reality [O'Grady on Kant] |
| Full Idea: Kant believed he had given a decisive answer to traditional scepticism, since we can no longer be mistaken about objects, but his critics say he is a sceptic, because he relinquishes our grasp of independent things. | |
| From: comment on Immanuel Kant (Critique of Pure Reason [1781]) by Paul O'Grady - Relativism Ch.3 | |
| A reaction: A simple issue to raise about the man, my first reaction being that he is a sceptic. He says the 'noumenon' (true reality) is unknowable, but I say we can meaningfully speculate and theorise about it. |
| 5592 | Scepticism is the euthanasia of pure reason [Kant] |
| Full Idea: Reason is tempted to surrender itself to a sceptical hopelessness, which might also be called the euthanasia of pure reason. | |
| From: Immanuel Kant (Critique of Pure Reason [1781], B434/A407) | |
| A reaction: Colin McGinn's 'mysterian' pessimism about the mind-body problem comes to mind! |
| 5595 | Scepticism is absurd in maths, where there are no hidden false assertions [Kant] |
| Full Idea: The sceptical method would be absurd in mathematics, because nowhere in mathematics do false assertions disguise themselves and make themselves invisible. | |
| From: Immanuel Kant (Critique of Pure Reason [1781], B452/A424) | |
| A reaction: An interesting observation. The implication I take here is that scepticism in the realm of sensation is justified, precisely because errors and illusion do occur. |