Philosophy 290-1

This semester we will discuss Kant’s theory of the categories. This topic, which is central to Kant’s metaphysics and epistemology, will be examined by focusing on both primary literature (selections from the Critique of Pure Reason, the Prolegomena, Kant’s Lectures on Metaphysics, and some pre-Critical work), as well as some of the important secondary literature (by Henry Allison, Béatrice Longuenesse. Klaus Reich, and others). The questions we will consider include the following: What are the categories? What does it mean to say that, for Kant, they have their origin in the forms of judgment? Why does Kant think that the use of the categories needs to be justified, and how does he propose to do this? What is the relation between categories and self-consciousness or apperception? What does Kant mean by claiming that the categories are concepts of an object?

The seminar is intended for students who have already had a course on the Critique of Pure Reason.