Abstract

In §66 of the Critique of the Teleological Power of Judgment, Kant presents a maxim for judging organisms. The maxim is a hybrid of empirical and a priori elements: Kant claims that though it is derived from experience, it asserts universality and necessity. The author substantiates the maxim and account for its hybrid nature by reconstructing Kant’s view, anchoring it in the text of and philosophical positions from neighboring sections of the Analytic. The reconstruction exposes a proper role for reflective judgment, and for a relation between reason and the faculty of understanding; it shows how Kant’s conception of organisms and species concepts, his general conception of matter, and the systematicity of his conceptual hierarchy are fundamental to justifying the maxim.