Self-knowledge and the problem of existence

in Studi Kantiani (2023), XXXV

In his book Kant and the Problem of Self-Knowledge (New York, Abingdon: Routledge 2019, 214 pages) Luca Forgione argues that the semantic, epistemic and metaphysical analysis of Kant’s theory of self ... [more ▼]

In his book Kant and the Problem of Self-Knowledge (New York, Abingdon: Routledge 2019, 214 pages) Luca Forgione argues that the semantic, epistemic and metaphysical analysis of Kant’s theory of self-knowledge is possible within the frame of a merely formal understanding of ‘I’. Although the author shows that for Kant self-knowledge is in fact knowledge of a formal thinking subject, there remains the difficulty that the formal analysis of self-knowledge entails the existence claim about the transcendental apperception. This claim is incompatible, I argue, with Kant’s theory of the analytic and synthetic unity of apperception. [less ▲]

Two models of critique of metaphysics: Kant and Hegel

in Metaphysics as a Science in Classical German Philosophy (2023)

Material Dependence and Kant’s Refutation of Idealism

in Topoi (2022)

The paper argues that in the Critique of Pure Reason Kant develops two anti-sceptical strategies. In the Fourth Paralogism (CPR A) he believes himself able to refute the sceptic by demonstrating that ... [more ▼]

The paper argues that in the Critique of Pure Reason Kant develops two anti-sceptical strategies. In the Fourth Paralogism (CPR A) he believes himself able to refute the sceptic by demonstrating that external perception is immediate. This strategy is rather unconvincing. In the Refutation of Idealism (CPR B) Kant promotes the material dependence of inner sense on outer sense. I show that Kant’s argument for material dependence has been widely overlooked, even though it is the strongest argument against external world scepticism he develops, since it anticipates mental content externalism while preserving transcendental idealism and empirical realism. [less ▲]

La Grande Région Philosophique Lorraine-Luxembourg - in memoriam Gilles Gourbin

in Cahiers le portiQue (2022), 19

Political Philosophy

in Kant Yearbook (2021), 13

Kant's supposed realism about things-in-themselves

in Serck-Hanssen, Camila (Ed.) Proceedings of the 13th International Kant Congress ‘The Court of Reason’ (Oslo, 6-9 August 2019) (2021)

Response to my critics: In defense of Kant’s aesthetic nonconceptualism

in Con-Textos Kantianos: International Journal of Philosophy (2020), (12), 173-190

In this article I respond to objections that Matías Oroño, Silvia del Luján di Saanza, Pedro Stepanenko and Luciana Martínez have raised against my non-conceptualist reading of Kant’s aesthetics. The ... [more ▼]

In this article I respond to objections that Matías Oroño, Silvia del Luján di Saanza, Pedro Stepanenko and Luciana Martínez have raised against my non-conceptualist reading of Kant’s aesthetics. The objections are both, substantial and instructive. I first sketch my non-conceptualist reading of Kant’s doctrine of judgments of taste and then turn to what I take to be the most important criticisms that these authors have put forward. Two difficulties with a non-conceptualist reading of Kant’s aesthetics seem to be central: the cognitive status of judgments of taste and the representationalist capacity of aesthetic feeling as non-conceptual mental content. I respond to these and additional objections and defend my overall non-conceptualist interpretation of Kant’s aesthetics against my critics. I argue that Kant’s aesthetics is highly relevant for the debate over whether or not Kant is a (non-)conceptualist. [less ▲]

Hegel: Ein Rationalist?

in International Yearbook of German Idealism (2019)

It is almost beyond doubt that Hegel’s thought bears rationalist traits. The question, however, whether or not Hegel can count as a rationalist, is controversial. This contribution argues that although ... [more ▼]

It is almost beyond doubt that Hegel’s thought bears rationalist traits. The question, however, whether or not Hegel can count as a rationalist, is controversial. This contribution argues that although Hegel is a rationalist in the wide sense, he is not in the narrow sense of the word. This is not a trivial observation. For in numerous places of his work it seems as if Hegel holds implicitly onto the central rationalist theorem, according to which the principles of thought are the principles of the possibility of things themselves. Hegel’s idealism of absolute rationality yet claims to have overcome this theorem and hence rationalism in the narrow historical sense by rationalist means. The paper examines and critically assesses this claim with respect to the Phenomenology of Spirit and the Science of Logic. [less ▲]

ARGUMENTS FOR NON-CONCEPTUALISM IN KANT’S THIRD CRITIQUE

in Verifiche (2019), XLVIII(1), 1-24

I argue that in his aesthetics, Kant puts forward arguments that help to answer the question of whether he is a conceptualist or a non-conceptualist. The current debate on Kantian conceptualism and non ... [more ▼]

I argue that in his aesthetics, Kant puts forward arguments that help to answer the question of whether he is a conceptualist or a non-conceptualist. The current debate on Kantian conceptualism and non-conceptualism has completely overlooked the importance of Kant’s aesthetics. There are two candidates for non-conceptuality in Kant’s aesthetics. First, non-conceptual content plays a crucial role in aesthetic evaluation. Second, non-conceptual content has a systematic explanatory function in the theory of aesthetic creation of the genius of art. Accordingly, my argument proceeds in two steps: In first analyse the role of non-conceptual content in aesthetic evaluation, i.e., Kant’s claim that aesthetic experience is cognition of a special kind that does not bear on conceptual activities. In then look at the role of non-conceptual content in the genius’s creation of artwork. I argue that art production does not imply conceptual activity and therefore seems to count as a second systematic instance of Kantian non-conceptualism. If my argument is correct, then Kant’s aesthetics implies non-conceptualism with respect to aesthetic evaluation but does not in any objective sense with respect to aesthetic creation. [less ▲]

Der antike pyrrhonische Skeptizismus / Aus dem Deutschen ins Ukrainische übersetzt von Volodymyr Abaschnik

in Antike und Universitätsphilosophie. (2019)