Real Existence, Ideal Necessity: Kant's Compromise, and the Modalities without the Compromise

Robert Greenberg

Published by De Gruyter 2008

Real Existence, Ideal Necessity

Kant's Compromise, and the Modalities without the Compromise

Robert Greenberg

Volume 157 in the series Kantstudien-Ergänzungshefte

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110210132

Overview
Contents

About this book

Analytic philosophy has leveled many challenges to Kant’s ascription of necessary properties and relations to objects in his Critique of Pure Reason. Some of these challenges can be answered, it is argued here, largely in terms of techniques belonging to analytic philosophy itself, in particular, to its philosophy of language. This Kantian response is the primary objective of this book. It takes the form of a compromise between the real existence of the objects that we can intuit and that get our knowledge started – dubbed initiators – and the ideality of the necessary properties and relations that Kant ascribes to our sensible representations of initiators, which he entitles appearances. Whereas the real existence of initiators is independent of us and our senses, the necessity of these properties and relations of appearances is due to their origins in the mind.
The Kantian compromise between real existence and ideal necessity is formulated in terms of David Kaplan’s interpretation of de re necessity in his article, “Quantifying In” – his response to Quine’s concern that a commitment to such a necessity leads to an acceptance of an unwanted traditional Aristotelian essentialism.
In addition, the book first abstracts and then departs from its interpretation of Kant to provide a realistic account of the relation between existence and de re necessity.

Author / Editor information

Robert Greenberg, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA, USA.

Topics

Frontmatter Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	I
Inhalt Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	IX
Preface Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	XI
Chapter 1 – General Review Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Part I: Existence
Chapter 2 – How Our Knowledge Begins Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	17
Chapter 3 – A Criterion of Existence in General Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	41
Chapter 4 – Sensation and Existence Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	61
Chapter 5 – Presupposition and Existence Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	72
Part II: Necessity
Chapter 6 – Kant’s Referential Ambiguity Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	91
Chapter 7 – Kaplan’s Referential Ambiguity Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	104
Chapter 8 – Kaplan’s Interpretation Adapted to Kant Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	114
Chapter 9 – Geometry and Causality Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	124
Chapter 10 – Presupposition and Real Necessity Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	147
Chapter 11 – Derivations of the Real Modalities Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	173
Chapter 12 – Conclusion Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	192
Backmatter Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	199

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: De Gruyter
Audience: Academics, Libraries, Institutes
Pages
- Front matter: 18
- Main content: 211
Keywords: Kant; Imanuel; Existence; Necessity; Logic; Knowledge

eBook

Published: December 10, 2008
ISBN: 9783110210132

Hardcover

Published: October 20, 2008
ISBN: 9783110206906