Single Idea 12421

[catalogued under 6. Mathematics / C. Sources of Mathematics / 2. Intuition of Mathematics]

Full Idea

Kant's intuitions have the Irrelevance problem (which structures of the mind are just accidental?), the Practical Impossibility problem (how to show impossible-in-principle?), and the Exactness problem (are entities exactly as they seem?).

Gist of Idea

Kant's intuitions struggle to judge relevance, impossibility and exactness

Source

comment on Immanuel Kant (Critique of Pure Reason [1781]) by Philip Kitcher - The Nature of Mathematical Knowledge 03.1

Book Reference

Kitcher,Philip: 'The Nature of Mathematical Knowledge' [OUP 1984], p.50


A Reaction

[see Kitcher for an examination of these] Presumably the answer to all three must be that we have meta-intuitions about our intuitions, or else intuitions come with built-in criteria to deal with the three problems. We must intuit something specific.