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Quantifying Inner Experience?— K ant's Mathematical Principles in the Context of Empirical Psychology
Author(s) -
Kraus Katharina Teresa
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
european journal of philosophy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.42
H-Index - 36
eISSN - 1468-0378
pISSN - 0966-8373
DOI - 10.1111/ejop.12068
Subject(s) - constructive , epistemology , criticism , constructive criticism , foundation (evidence) , perception , context (archaeology) , transcendental number , psychology , mathematical psychology , philosophy of science , empirical research , cognitive science , social psychology , philosophy of psychology , computer science , philosophy , art , paleontology , literature , archaeology , process (computing) , biology , history , operating system
This paper shows why K ant's critique of empirical psychology should not be read as a scathing criticism of quantitative scientific psychology, but has valuable lessons to teach in support of it. By analysing K ant's alleged objections in the light of his critical theory of cognition, it provides a fresh look at the problem of quantifying first‐person experiences, such as emotions and sense‐perceptions. An in‐depth discussion of applying the mathematical principles, which are defined in the Critique of Pure Reason as the constitutive conditions for mathematical‐numerical experience in general, to inner sense will demonstrate why it is in principle possible to justify a quantitative structure of psychological judgments on the grounds of K ant's critical thinking. In conclusion, it will propose how K ant's critique could be used in a constructive way to develop first steps towards a transcendental foundation of psychological knowledge.