RESUMENEl valor estético del Sistema del Idealismo Trascendental ha pasado algo desapercibido, si se tiene en cuenta su relevancia y si se compara con la buena fortuna de otras obras del mismo autor. La tendencia general, justificada, ha sido estudiar la cuestión de la belleza y el arte en aquellas obras directamente dedicadas a este tema. Este artículo pone en evidencia el valor estético decisivo que tiene el Sistema y, cómo toda la obra y toda su estructura, fundamenta y (...) desarrolla la definición de belleza que aparece sólo en sus últimas líneas: «lo infinito expresado de modo finito es belleza» (SW 465).PALABRAS CLAVESCHELLING, ESTÉTICA, SISTEMA DEL IDEALISMO TRASCENDENTAL, BELLEZAABSTRACTThe aesthetic value of the System of Transcendental Idealism has been scarcely recognized. It must be considered the relevance of this work, and how easy has been the recognition of beauty in other works of Schelling. The general tendency, absolutely justified, has been to look for beauty and art in those text clearly devoted to this topic. In this article it is shown and analyzed the decisive aesthetic value of the System: how the whole work, its whole structure, base and develops the definition of beauty we find just in the last lines of the text: «The infinite expressed in a finite way is beauty» (SW 465)KEYWORDSSCHELLING, AESTHETICS, SYSTEM OF THE TRANSCENDENTAL IDEALISM, BEAUTY. (shrink)

El artículo explora el sentido en que tanto Kant como Husserl entienden lo trascendental y la importancia de este concepto para sus respectivas filosofías. El autor aborda esta relación con la intención de mostrar que ambos filósofos parten de una reflexión radical sobre las condiciones de posibilidad de la experiencia, llegando a conclusiones diferentes sobre ésta. Se pasa revista de las consecuencias de establecer una filosofía trascendental y la enorme diferencia que ambos autores establecen sobre el tema de (...) la experiencia como articuladora de lo trascendental en sus respectivas filosofías. (shrink)

The concept of Transcendental Object either refers, in the framework of the Critic of Pure Reason, to the cause or foundation of external phenomena, or, on the contrary, to the concept of an object in general as it is thought by the conscience so as to guarantee the objective validity of its representations. In this paper, I shall attempt to show that —contrary to what has been suggested by several interpreters— the ambiguity involved in the Kantian use of this concept (...) is not the result of a terminological carelessness, but that it is founded on certain principles of Critical Idealism. (shrink)

En Ideas I, la fenomenología se presenta como “idealismo trascendental”. Esta investigación muestra que cinco años antes, en 1908, Husserl accedió a la formulación del “idealismo trascendental”, pero desde una vía diferente a la de Ideas I. En 1913 y hasta 1921, el fundador de la fenomenología retoma y desarrolla la fundamentación inicial del “idealismo trascendental”. Presentamos los rasgos fundamentales de esta “demostración” del “idealismo trascendental” y ponderamos hasta qué punto se abre la posibilidad de un (...) “trascendentalismo metodológico”, camino hacia una filosofía trascendental no-idealista. (shrink)

El artículo explora el sentido en que tanto Kant como Husserl entienden lo trascendental y la importancia de este concepto para sus respectivas filosofías. El autor aborda esta relación con la intención de mostrar que ambos filósofos parten de una reflexión radical sobre las condiciones de posibilidad de la experiencia, llegando a conclusiones diferentes sobre ésta. Se pasa revista de las consecuencias de establecer una filosofía trascendental y la enorme diferencia que ambos autores establecen sobre el tema de (...) la experiencia como articuladora de lo trascendental en sus respectivas filosofías. (shrink)

It is generally acknowledged that there were two schisms in the early history of the phenomenological movement. The first, the Great Phenomenological Schism, started between 1905 and 1913, as many of his younger contemporaries, for example Pfänder, Scheler, Reinach, Stein, and Ingarden, rejected Husserl’s transformation of phenomenology from the descriptive psychology of the Logical Investigations into the transcendental idealism of Ideas I. The second, the Phenomenological-Existential Schism, happened between 1927 and 1933, as it emerged that with Being and Time (...) Heidegger’s philosophy had moved away from Husserl’s transcendental phenomenology of consciousness toward an ontological analytic of human existence as the way to an interpretation of the question of the meaning of Being. This paper is about neither the first schism per se nor the second schism per se but about the relationship between the two. It suggests that the first schism anticipated the second and the second recapitulated the first, so that, although the first could have occurred without the second, the second would not have happened as it did without the first. It also indicates that the second schism lies temporally much closer to the first schism than has been hitherto appreciated. Above all, the paper seeks an answer to this question: How do the Great Phenomenological Schism and the Phenomenological-Existential Schism illuminate one another philosophically? (shrink)

En el presente artículo, mi objetivo es ofrecer un análisis de la posible comparación entre la filosofía de Fichte y la pragmática trascendental de Apel. A pesar de algunas coincidencias importantes, la comparación no resulta completamente satisfactoria. En realidad, el pensamiento de Fichte corresponde al paradigma moderno de una filosofía de la conciencia. Por consiguiente, su reflexión trascendental no pretende descubrir las condiciones intersubjetivas del discurso, sino las condiciones subjetivas del pensamiento. Según Fichte, el fundamento último de la (...) filosofía no se encuentra en la dimensión pragmática del lenguaje o en una comunidad ideal de comunicación, sino más bien en la unidad de la autoconciencia subjetiva en el pensamiento, el conocimiento y la acción. In this paper, my aim is to offer an approach to the possible comparison between Fichte's idealism and Apel's transcendental pragmatics. Despite some relevant similarities, the comparison of these philosophical theories is not completely satisfactory. Indeed, Fichte's thought corresponds to the modern paradigm of a philosophy of consciousness. Therefore, his transcendental reflection does not intend to discover the intersubjective conditions of discourse, but the subjective conditions of thought. According to Fichte, the ultimate foundation of philosophy cannot be found in the pragmatic dimension of language or ideal community of communication, but in the unity of subjective self-awareness in thinking, knowledge and action. (shrink)

RESUMEN Se defiende la tesis de que la teoría kantiana del espacio, en el contexto del idealismo trascendental, constituye un marco adecuado para solucionar la paradoja de las contrapartidas incongruentes. Se incluyen dos hipótesis: a) la solución kantiana implica una referencia a la conciencia de la propia corporalidad, para comprender cómo poseemos la capacidad para orientarnos en el espacio; b) no existe contradicción en el uso kantiano de las contrapartidas incongruentes en diferentes estadios de su pensamiento. La solución kantiana (...) de 1768 constituye una versión germinal del desarrollo que culminará en la teoría idealista trascendental acerca del espacio como una forma de nuestra sensibilidad. ABSTRACT The article argues that the Kantian theory of space, in the context of transcendental idealism, constitutes an adequate framework to resolve the paradox of incongruent counterparts. Two hypotheses are considered: a) the Kantian solution implies a reference to the awareness of one's corporeity in order to understand how we have the capacity to orient ourselves in space; b) there is no contradiction in the Kantian use of incongruent counterparts throughout the different stages of his thought. The Kantian solution of 1768 is a germinal version of the development leading up to the transcendental idealist theory of space as a form of our sensibility. (shrink)

In this paper we intend to discuss the problem of the ontological status of the object given to the sensibility, as it is established in the §1 of the Transcendental Aesthetics . If -attending to the results of Transcendental Analytic- the object of experience can be thought only by the mediation of the categories, the significance of this reference to the given object in the Aesthetic appears as rather obscure. Many interpreters have tried to solve this problem stating that such (...) reference corresponds to the level of common sense. We believe, however, that there is no need to appeal to such a concept, for the distinction between reality and ideality -in both empirical and transcendental senses- introduced in the §3 of the Transcendental Aesthetics as a reference to the status of space, is useful to consider the status of the given object, with important consequences concerning the interpretation of the Transcendental Idealism. (shrink)

Classic and modern philosophy propose different views on the question of self-knowledge. Ancient philosophy identifies self-knowledge with the knowledge of the soul, which is the principle of unity in man. Modern philosophy is intereseted in subjectivity, but has a problematic view of it. Some currents, like Idealism, consider that a total reflexcion is possible, in which the subjectivity becomes totally present to itself, but others, as Empiricists, are skeptical and even deny the existence of a true subject. The difficulties (...) of the Idealistic project have are uncovered by some contemporary philosophers, like Heidegger and post-modern thinkers. Polo shows how the denial of a reflective and objective knowledge of the person is compatible with the claim that the person is a radical and transcendental act of intellect. The key of this proposal is the affirmation that there are different kinds of acts of the intellect, according to their theme. (shrink)

The paper considers Paul Natorp's Kantian reading of Plato's theory of ideas, as developed in his monumental work, Platos Ideenlehre, eine Einführung in den Idealismus (1903, 1921). Central to Natrop's reading are, I argue, the following two claims: (1) Plato's ideas are laws, not things; and (2) Plato's theory of ideas in the first instance a theory about the possibility and nature of thought - in particular cognitive and indeed scientific or explanatory thought - and only as a consequence is (...) it a theory about the nature of reality. Natrop thus argues that Plato's theory of ideas is at its heart a transcendental theory, and that Plato's metaphysics is built on this basis. The paper considers these claims - and their textual basis in Plato - in some detail, and attempts an initial evaluation of their plausibility as a reading of Plato. I am on the whole sympathetic to Natorp's reading, though a proper assessment goes beyond the present paper. The wider interest of this idealist or anti-realist reading of Plato ought to be obvious, especially in view of the commonly accepted assumption these days that both Plato and Aristotle, and indeed the Greeks in general, took realism entirely for granted (see e.g. M. Burnyeat). Natorp argues that this is true of Aristotle, but quite untrue of Plato. But he is quite clear that the idealism he ascribes to Plato is not Berkeleyan or metaphysical idealism, but a certain kind of transcendental or epistemological idealism. Natorp, however, is no uncritical follower of Kant, and the version of trascendental idealism that he ascribes to Plato is, I argue, very different from Kant's. (shrink)

In this issue of Studies in Transcendental Philosophy five scholars enquire about the theoretical aspects of Kant’s transcendental philosophy related to the notions of subject, self-consciousness, and self-knowledge. Andrew Brook examines Kant’s views on transcendental apperception at the end of the Critical Period, focusing on Opus Postumum which contains some of Kant’s most important reflections on the subjective dimension. As is known, the self-conscious act designated by the proposition ‘I think’ is an act of spontaneity, and this spontaneity is the (...) reason that the subject calls itself an intelligence. In his article Addison Ellis examines the theoretical and practical dimension of spontaneity, calling into question the distinction between a merely ‘relative’ spontaneity and one that is ‘absolute’. Luca Forgione points to two forms of self-consciousness introduced by Kant: inner sense, based on a sensory form of self-awareness, and transcendental apperception. Through the notion of inner sense, Kant also allows for an introspective account of self-awareness; nonetheless, Kant holds an utterly sophisticated notion of basic self-consciousness provided for by the notion of transcendental apperception. Roberto Horácio de Sá Pereira’s article presents a systematic and a historical approach, linking the contemporary debate on transcendental argument to Kant’s philosophy. It addresses both Stroud’s objection and Strawson’s perspective on transcendental argument and introduces a new reconstruction of Kant’s Refutation as successful truth-directed transcendental argument. In contrast to the contemporary movement of transhumanism and its claims that creatures like us can exist independently of our bodies, Robert Hanna develops a generalist perspective on the subjective dimension, according to which all rational human creature are synthetic a priori necessarily, essentially embodied Kantian selves. I would like to thank the authors for participating in this issue and for helping to make it really special. (shrink)

An interpretation of Jacobi's philosophical realism.

Kant’s admission of a “gap” in the philosophical system of criticism, which his unpublished project of the “Transition from the Metaphysical Foundations of Natural Science to Physics” would have been meant to fill, has been the object of controversy among scholars. This article reconsiders the problem by connecting the manuscripts with the operation of “exhibition” of concepts, which already had a systematic role in the 1780s, concluding that the new project was intended to provide not a reform, but a necessary (...) complement of previous works. In the final section Kant’s new awareness of this problem in the 1790s is connected to the contemporary reception of criticism. This context provides more evidence supporting the main argument of the article about the inner development of Kant’s thought. (shrink)

RESUMENAl hilo del significado de «in-finito», el artículo explora la respuesta romántica al Planteamiento trascendental kantiano. Asimismo, se indaga en la profunda diferencia que marca ya desde el inicio el diferente destino idealista (logico-histórico) y romántico (historico‐hermenéutico) del significado de infinito. Con su exigencia de reconocer real y no solo lógicamente la relación finito/infinito, el romanticismo formulará una concepción artística de la filosofía cuyo límite último tendría que coincidir con la poesía.PALABRAS CLAVESINFINITO, ROMANTICISMO TEMPRANO, IDEALISMO TEMPRANO, FILOSOFÍA DEL ARTE, (...) ESTÉTICA, SCHLEGEL, NOVALIS, SCHELLINGABSTRACTIn relation to the meaning of «in‐finite», this paper explores the Romantic answer to the Kantian transcendental approach. It also explores the deep difference that from the very beginning marks the different idealist (logical‐historical) and romantic (historical‐hermeneutic) destiny of the meaning of infinite. With its demand of admitting really and not only logically the connection finite/infinite, Romanticism will formulate an artistic concept of Philosophy whose ultimate limit would have to correspond with Poetry.KEY WORDSINFINITE, EARLY ROMANTICISM, EARLEY IDEALISM, PHILOSOPHY OF ART, ESTHETICS, SCHLEGEL, NOVALIS, SCHELLING. (shrink)

“Back to Husserl: Reclaiming the Traditional Philosophical Context ofthe Phenomenological ‘Problem’ of the Other: Leibniz’s Monadology”. The internalmotivation that led Husserl to revise his early view of the pure Ego as empty ofessential content is traced to the end of explicating his reformulation of phenomenologyas the egology of the concrete transcendental Ego. The necessity ofrecasting transcendental phenomenology as a transcendental idealism that followsfrom this reformulation is presented and the appearance of transcendentalsolipsism of this idealism exposed as unfounded. That (...) the ground of this exposureis Husserl’s phenomenological appropriation of Leibniz’s metaphysical insightsinto the problem of accounting for the plurality of monads, and, therefore, not theCartesian problem of the other mind, is presented as the key to reclaiming thetraditional philosophical context of the phenomenological problem of the other. (shrink)

En este artículo continuamos el debate con Graham Harman en torno a la filosofía de Ortega, la fenomenología de Husserl y la re-lación entre fenomenología y realismo especulativo. Tras exponer los antecedentes y los temas centrales del debate en un apartado introductorio, dividimos nuestro trabajo en tres grandes apartados. En el primero se exponen algunos conceptos fundamentales de la fenomenología, sobre todo el sentido del idealismo trascendental; la peculiaridad fenomenológica del concepto de inmanencia, y en consecuencia los conceptos de (...) reducción y epojé. En el siguiente apartado se clarifica la vinculación de Ortega y Gasset con el movimiento fenomenológico, que se da hasta mitades de 1929 sin ninguna reticencia, y expo-niendo la crítica orteguiana a partir de ese momento, pero relativizándola. En el apartado último y tercero, al hilo de la discusión crítica de la interpretación que Harman mantiene de am-bas cuestiones, ampliamos el debate a la relación entre fenomenología y realismo especulativo, respondiendo a las objeciones que nos plantea el filósofo norteamericano en su escrito anterior.In this essay we continue the debate with Graham Harman around Ortega's philosophy, Husserl's phenomenology, and the relationship between phenomenology and speculative realism. After presenting the background and the central themes of the debate in an introductory section, we divide our paper into three main sections. In the first one, some fundamental concepts of phenomenology are exposed, especially the meaning of transcendental idealism; the phenomenological peculiarity of the concept of immanence, and consequently the concepts of reduction and epoché. In the following section, the link between Ortega y Gasset and the phenomenological movement is clarified, which runs until the middle of 1929 without any reluctance, then the Ortega criticism is exposed from that moment, but relativizing it. In the last and third section, following the critical discussion of Harman's interpretation of both questions, we extend the debate to the relationship between phenomenology and speculative realism, responding to the objections raised by the American philosopher in his previous writing. (shrink)

Starting from an analysis of Heidegger’s consideration of the being-toward-death phenomenon, we establish a link between two fundamental axes for hermeneutic phenomenology: intentionality and facticity. We argue that the only possible comprehension of being-toward-death must to be understood before the modern object/ subject division and at the margin of any realistic or idealistic premises. Furthermore, we propose to understand the emergence of hermeneutics as an “immanent critique” to Husserlian transcendentalism. The ultimate purpose of this short paper is to bridge some (...) gaps between transcendental phenomenology and hermeneutics. (shrink)

El idealismo moderno de la estética plantea una distinción entre símbolo y alegoría. A partir de esta distinción, Schelling y Hegel caracterizan la alegoría como un suplementario o un mecanismo degradado de representación. Consecuentemente, sus lecturas de Calderón de la Barca están informadas por la preminencia del símbolo y el supuesto de la idealidad del significado, es decir, su univocidad y transparencia frente al carácter secundario de la encarnación o inscripción alegórica. De este modo, afirmar que en el símbolo no (...) hay diferencia entre el símbolo y lo simbolizado no es sino una apuesta que subsume la materialidad en lo absoluto y conjura la inscripción. Dicho de otro modo, al rechazar la figuración alegórica porque el sentido estaría escindido y mal representado, se oculta la pregunta acerca de las condiciones materiales que complican cualquier clasificación fija. En este registro, y a partir de Walter Benjamin, se propone que el procedimiento barroco en Calderón pone en cuestión este supuesto de la anterioridad del sentido. Calderón, entonces, temática y performativamente, levanta y entabla la pregunta por las condiciones materiales de la producción del sentido, y con ello pone en escena que el sentido no puede permanecer simplemente intocado. La teatralidad, pues, consiste en hacer aparecer esta relación contaminante. El Gran teatro del tundo de Calderón aparece, así, como una radical crítica del idealismo trascendental: instala la pregunta por la teatralidad que desajusta la posición de la idealidad, desmonta el ordenamiento a partir del cual se afirmaba la idealidad en desmedro de la singularidad empírica de la encarnación alegórica, al mismo tiempo que desestabiliza las condiciones de la soberanía. Modern idealism of aesthetics poses a distinction between symbol and allegory. From this difference, Schelling and Hegel characterize the allegory as a supplementary or degraded mechanism of representation. Consequently, his readings of Calderón de la Barca are informed by the preeminence of the symbol and the presupposition of the ideality of the meaning, that is, its univocity and transparency in the face of the secondary character of the incarnation or allegorical inscription. In this way, to affirm that in symbol there is no difference between the symbol and the symbolized is nothing more than a bet that subsumes the materiality in the absolute and conjures up the inscription. In other words, by rejecting the allegorical figuration because the meaning would be divided and misrepresented, the question about the material conditions that complicate any fixed classification is hidden. In this register, and following Walter Benjamin, this paper proposes that the baroque procedure in Calderón put in question this assumption of the anteriority of meaning. Then, Calderón, thematically and performatively, raises and poses the question of the material conditions of the production of meaning, and with this, he puts on stage that meaning cannot simply remain untouched. Theatricality, then, consists of making this contaminating relationship appear. El Gran Teatro del Mundo, thus, appears as a radical critique of transcendental idealism: it installs the question of theatricality that dismantles the position of ideality, it disassembles the order from which ideality was affirmed to the detriment the empirical singularity of the allegorical incarnation, and, at the same time, it destabilizes the conditions of sovereignty. (shrink)

The present work aims to study the knot formed between ontology, normativity and subjetivation in order to tackle the problem of materiality of domination relations. Along these lines, a materialist aproach will explore the movements, relationships and multiple implications among these dimensions. This method seeks to dismantle the tendency of philosophical idealism that appeals to the suture, blocking and closure of the plurality of events through some normative principle of a, let´s say, a priori trascendental or empirical character. (...) As a counterpart, it seeks to show the constitutive paradox of the subjectivation process and, at the same time, its possibilities of singular, autonomous and immanent constitution. (shrink)

Resumen: En este trabajo examino la concepción hegeliana del límite intentando clarificar sus principales características.Comienzo ubicando la filosofía hegeliana en el contexto filosófico más general del idealismo alemán, entendiendoeste movimiento como aquel comprometido en el proyecto de proporcionar una deducción trascendental de loabsoluto. Dado este contexto, procedo a examinar las críticas de Hegel a a la filosofía de Kant, principalmente en la“introducción a la Fenomenología del espíritu . El artículo concluye evaluando la adecuación de la elucidación deltratamiento hegeliano del (...) problema del límite mostrando como esta noción funciona en la interpretación del tratamiento hegeliano de la certeza sensorial en la fenomenología. -/- The problem of limit according to Hegel. In this paper I focus Hegelian conception of limit trying to clarify its main features. I begin locating Hegel’s philosophy in the broader philosophical context of German Idealism, understanding it as the intellectual movementconcerned with the project of providing a transcendental deduction of the Absolute. Having this as a background, Iexamine Hegelian critique of Kantian philosophy, mainly in the “Introduction” of Phenomenology of Spirit, and I conclude the paper testing the way I elucidated the problem of limit in this paper showing how this notion can beused to interpret the treatment of “sense certainty” in Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit. (shrink)

After the copernican rotation carried out by Kant, Schelling,in the widest context of the german idealism, thought about the metaphysicalaspirations of thinking since its confrontation with art. Schelling considersthe philosophy of art as the organonon f trascendental philosophy. For him,the totalit..

El capítulo introduce al debate sobre la naturaleza del espacio entre Leibniz y Clarke/Newton y a la posición que adopta Kant más tarde. En particular, se exponen los dos principales argumentos de Leibniz, basados en los Principios de Razón Suficiente e Identidad de Indiscernibles, en favor del relacionismo así como algunas respuestas de Clarke/Newton. También se presenta el argumento basado en la orientación del espacio que propuso Kant en 1768 para refutar el relacionismo de Leibniz. Se concluye con una breve (...) exposición del idealismo trascendental de Kant en su Primera Crítica. (shrink)

Alain Badiou’s treatment of objects in Logics of Worlds is both rich and highly technical, though its terminological challenges are softened by his use of illuminating examples. This article takes a twofold approach to the topic. In a first sense, the theory of objects developed in Logics of Worlds by way of an imagined protest at the Place de la République in Paris exhibits two questionable aspects: (1) the notion that the object is a bundle of qualities (found proverbially in (...) Hume, but also in Kant’s “transcendental object=X”), and (2) the ultimately idealist assumption of a possible isomorphy between appearance and reality. But in a second sense, Badiou’s transcendental account of worlds leads him to a fascinating theory of exemplary entities, one that is immune to the critiques of onto-theology made by Heidegger and Derrida. This can be found in his account of the “transcendental functor” in Alexander the Great’s decisive victory over Darius III at the Battle of Gaugamela in 331 B.C.E. (shrink)

Quantum indeterminism seems incompatible with Kant’s defense of causality in his Second Analogy. The Copenhagen interpretation also takes quantum theory as evidence for anti-realism. This article argues that the law of causality, as transcendental, applies only to the world as observable, not to hypothetical (unobservable) objects such as quarks, detectable only by high energy accelerators. Taking Planck’s constant and the speed of light as the lower and upper bounds of observability provides a way of interpreting the observables of quantum mechanics (...) as empirically real even though they are transcendentally (i.e., preobservationally) ideal.El indeterminismo cuántico parece incompatible con la defensa de la causalidad que hace Kant en su Segunda Analogía. La interpretación de Copenhague de la mecánica cuántica también considera a esta teoría como evidencia a favor del antirrealismo. Este artículo defiende que la ley (trascendental) de la causalidadse aplica solamente al mundo en tanto que observable, y no a objetos hipotéticos (inobservables) como los quarks, detectables solo mediante aceleradores de altas energías. Tomar la constante de Planck y la velocidad de la luz como límites inferior y superior de la observabilidad nos ofrece un modo de interpretar losobservables de la mecánica cuántica como empíricamente reales, incluso aunque estos sean trascendentalmente, es decir, preobservacionalmente, ideales. (shrink)

Una de las más frecuentes críticas dirigidas contra Hegel es que su sistema crea una totalidad finalizante que determina lo que es como absolutamente necesario. La Ciencia de la Lógica, siendo el edificio conceptual de dicho sistema, es el lugar más apropiado para determinar el significado específic..

In this article I compare the phenomenology of Husserl with Polo’s philosophy of the mental limit. This comparison is orientated to highlight the importance of habits in anthropology.

In this paper, I present a new realist idealist account of perception, on which perception is not essentially representational. Perception, rather, involves an overlapping of two phenomenal unities: the perceiving subject, and the phenomenal tapestry of reality. This renders it intelligible that we can stand in precisely the same relation to distal objects of perception as we do to our own pains. The resulting view captures much that naïve realists take to be central to perception. But, I argue, such a (...) view is only intelligible if distal objects are themselves fundamentally mental. Idealism is thus uniquely posed to intelligibly capture the benefits of naïve realism. (shrink)

In this paper, I argue for a version of panpsychist idealism on first-person experiential grounds. As things always appear in my field of consciousness, there is prima facie empirical support for idealism. Furthermore, by assuming that all things correspond to a conscious perspective or perspectives (i.e., panpsychism), realism about the world is arguably safeguarded without the need to appeal to God (as per Berkeley’s idealism). Panpsychist idealism also has a phenomenological advantage over traditional panpsychist views as (...) it does not commit perceptual experience to massive error by denying that perceived colours are properties of things. Finally, I argue that the subject combination problem for panpsychism has been motivated by the problematic assumption that consciousness is in things. Thinking about subject combination from the first-person perspective is fruitful for reframing the subject combination problem and for seeing how subjects could potentially combine for the idealist. (shrink)

I propose a new way of understanding Kant’s doctrine of freedom. My reading seeks to combine features of two popular opposed lines of interpretation, namely, of metaphysical and anti-metaphysical readings. I defend the view that Kant’s idealist attempt to ‘save’ human freedom involves substantive metaphysical commitments. However, I show that this interpretation can fruitfully integrate important insights that are standardly associated with deflationary readings: first, the idea that for Kant freedom and natural necessity can be ascribed to one and the (...) same human being; and second, the idea that for Kant the belief in freedom and the belief in natural necessity belong to two different standpoints. (shrink)

Through clear explanation of its characteristic concepts and doctrines, and paying close attention to the published works of its philosophers, the volume ...

Annotation A challenge to our perception of how cultures and ideals are formed, this book shows that while structural ideals allow people to co-operate as they work toward goals - their own or those of their community - these images of perfection, so easily accepted as the unalterable structure of our society, can be changed, and are changed by individuals.

Causal refutations of external-world scepticism start from our ability to make justified judgements about the order of our own experiences, and end with the claim that there must be perceptible external objects, some of whose states can be causally correlated with that order. In a recent paper, I made a series of objections to this broadly Kantian anti-sceptical strategy. Georges Dicker has provided substantive replies on behalf of a version of the causal refutation of idealism. Here I offer a (...) few final remarks about issues at the heart of our disagreement. -/- . (shrink)

In this two-part series, I explore some of the most important and influential interpretations of Spinoza as an idealist. In this first part, I examine Hegel’s case for interpreting Spinoza as a kind of frustrated idealist and show how doing so raises fresh interpretative challenges for Spinoza’s contemporary readers.