Single Idea 19650

[catalogued under 16. Persons / B. Nature of the Self / 4. Presupposition of Self]

Full Idea

The transcendental subject simply cannot be said to exist; which is to say that the subject is not an entity, but rather a set of conditions rendering objective scientific knowledge of entities possible.

Gist of Idea

The transcendental subject is not an entity, but a set of conditions making science possible

Source

Quentin Meillassoux (After Finitude; the necessity of contingency [2006], 1)

Book Reference

Meillassoux: 'After Finitude: the necessity of contingency', ed/tr. Brassier,R [Bloomsbury 2008], p.23


A Reaction

Meillassoux treats this as part of the Kantian Disaster, which made an accurate account of the scientific revolution impossible for philosophers. Kant's ego seems to have primarily an epistemological role.