Kant on empiricism and rationalism

Preview

PDF WRAP_Vanzo-Kant_on_Empiricism_and_Rationalism-2013.pdf - Accepted Version - Requires a PDF viewer. Download (358kB) | Preview

Request Changes to record.

Abstract

This paper aims to correct some widely held misconceptions concerning Kant's role in the formation of a widespread narrative of early modern philosophy. According to this narrative, which dominated the English-speaking world throughout the twentieth century, the early modern period was characterized by the development of two rival schools: René Descartes's, Baruch Spinoza's, and G. W. Leibniz's rationalism; and John Locke's, George Berkeley's, and David Hume's empiricism. Empiricists and rationalists disagreed on whether all concepts are derived from experience and whether humans can have any substantive a priori knowledge, a priori knowledge of the physical world, or a priori metaphysical knowledge. The early modern period came to a close, so the narrative claims, once Immanuel Kant, who was neither an empiricist nor a rationalist, combined the insights of both movements in his new Critical philosophy. In so doing, Kant inaugurated the new eras of German idealism and late modern philosophy

Request changes or add full text files to a record

Repository staff actions (login required)

View Item