Open AccessIncongruent counterparts and the absolute nature of space in Kant’s 1768 essay, "Directions in Space"
Author(s) -
Gastón Robert
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
anuario filosófico/anuario filosófico
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.124
H-Index - 4
eISSN - 2173-6111
pISSN - 0066-5215
DOI - 10.15581/009.53.2.002
Subject(s) - absolute (philosophy) , transcendental idealism , argument (complex analysis) , space (punctuation) , absolute time and space , transcendental number , philosophy , epistemology , idealism , theoretical physics , physics , chemistry , biochemistry , linguistics , general relativity
This article argues that Kant’s argument from incongruent counterparts in his essay, Directions in Space (1768) yields not the conclusion that space is an objective reality, but rather that it is an absolute and dynamical framework that grounds spatial properties, a view which is neutral with respect to the objective/subjective nature of space. It is suggested that, so construed, Kant’s argument in this essay can be made consistent with his later employment in support of transcendental idealism with regard to space.