Lord, Beth (2003) Kant's productive ontology : knowledge, nature and the meaning of being. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

In this thesis I provide an interpretation of Kant's theories of knowledge,
nature, and being in order to argue that Kant's ontology is a productive ontology:
it is a theory of being that includes a notion of production. I aim to show that
Kant's epistemology and philosophy of nature are based on a theory of being as
productivity. The thesis contributes to knowledge in that it considers in detail
Kant's ontology and theory of being, topics which have generally been ignored or
misunderstood.
In arguing for Kant's productive ontology, I argue against Heidegger's
interpretation of Kant, which states that Kant understands being as "produced
permanent presence" or as divinely created materiality. Based on Kant's definition
of being as positing, I argue, by contrast to Heidegger, that Kant understands being
as the original productive relation between subject and object. This can also be
expressed as the relation between formality and materiality, or between epistemic
conditions and existence, that is productive of objects of experience. Being is not
producedness but a relation of productivity, through which both subject and object
are themselves productive. The subject is productive in its spontaneity, and nature,
determined as dynamical interaction, is interpreted as productive. The subject, I
will argue, does not understand nature as produced, but approaches it with a
comportment towards its production as object of experience. Because of its own
subjective productivity - spontaneity or "life" - the subject has a "productive
comportment" towards nature.
Ontology, I claim, concerns the realm of the productive relation of being, the
realm of the relation between epistemic conditions and existence, and therefore the
realm of possible experience. This marks Kant as divergent not only from what
Heidegger calls "the ontology of the extant", but also from the concept-based
ontology of the German rationalists.
The general aims of the thesis are, first, to argue that being for Kant is the
original relation between subject and object, and that ontology concerns this
relation; second, to argue that ontology and being are understood in terms of
production and productivity; and third, to argue that Heidegger is wrong to ascribe
to Kant an understanding of being as "produced pennanent presence". I approach
these aims by examining a number of Kant's texts in detail, focusing particularly
on Kant's theses about existence and being in The One Possible Basis for a
Demonstration of the Existence of God and the Critique of Pure Reason; on
Kant's philosophy of nature and dynamical matter in the Transcendental Analytic
and Metaphysical Foundations of Natural Science; on Kant's doctrine of
experience and objectivity in the Transcendental Deductions; on ontological
reflection and the productive comportment of "life" in the Critique of Judgment;
and on Kant's final theory of matter, life and production in the Opus Postumum.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > B Philosophy (General)
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Kant, Immanuel, 1724-1804 -- Criticism and interpretation, Ontology, Knowledge, Theory of
Official Date:	September 2003
Dates:	Date Event September 2003 Submitted
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Department of Philosophy
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Houlgate, Stephen ; Benjamin, Andrew E.
Sponsors:	Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) ; Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals of the Universities of the United Kingdom
Extent:	253 p.
Language:	eng

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