Abstract
While Kant does not address the problem of induction often attributed
to Hume, he does, by way of a transcendental deduction of an a priori principle
of reflecting empirical judgment, address a distinct problem Hume raises indirectly.
This problem is that induction cannot be justified so long as it presupposes
some empirical concept applying to or some empirical principle true of more
than one object in nature, a presupposition neither determined by nor founded
on reason. I draw on Hume’s positive account of induction to motivate the following
objection to Kant: in so far as induction can be justified, there is reason
to doubt that it would be so in virtue of any a priori feature.