Kant's Transcendental Deduction of the Categories

Unity, Representation, and Apperception

Lawrence J. Kaye

Kant’s Transcendental Deduction of the Categories: Unity, Representation, and Apperception is a distinctively new reading of the Transcendental Deduction of the Categories in the Critique of Pure Reason. Lawrence J. Kaye has discovered a number of previously overlooked arguments and explanations, one of the most significant being an argument that demonstrates that the use of concepts requires the necessary unity of consciousness. He also provides a detailed investigation of Kant’s account of representation in the first edition of the Transcendental Deduction of the Categories and shows how it can be understood as a unique type of functional role view. This view of representation leads to a new understanding of Kant’s blend of realism and idealism.

Kant’s notion of transcendental apperception (a priori self-awareness) is also carefully explained. Kaye shows that there is an extremely tight inter-relation between the unity of consciousness, representation, and apperception that constitutes a well-supported framework, one that offers a surprisingly strong set of replies to Hume’s skeptical challenges. He applies this framework to produce a coherent and detailed explanation of the Transcendental Deduction of the Categories, offering a thorough, paragraph-by-paragraph examination of the text in both editions.

This work should not only be of interest to Kant scholars, but also to any philosophers and cognitive scientists who are invested in any of the following topics: the unity and structure of consciousness, concepts, mental representation, self-awareness, and realism and idealism.

Lexington Books

Pages: 280 • Trim: 6½ x 9¼

978-1-4985-0848-3 • Hardback • July 2015 • $128.00 • (£98.00)

978-1-4985-0850-6 • Paperback • August 2019 • $50.99 • (£39.00)

978-1-4985-0849-0 • eBook • July 2015 • $48.00 • (£37.00)

Subjects: Philosophy / History & Surveys / General, Philosophy / General, Philosophy / Mind & Body

Kant's Transcendental Deduction of the Categories

Unity, Representation, and Apperception

Hardback

Paperback

eBook

Summary

Kant’s Transcendental Deduction of the Categories: Unity, Representation, and Apperception is a distinctively new reading of the Transcendental Deduction of the Categories in the Critique of Pure Reason. Lawrence J. Kaye has discovered a number of previously overlooked arguments and explanations, one of the most significant being an argument that demonstrates that the use of concepts requires the necessary unity of consciousness. He also provides a detailed investigation of Kant’s account of representation in the first edition of the Transcendental Deduction of the Categories and shows how it can be understood as a unique type of functional role view. This view of representation leads to a new understanding of Kant’s blend of realism and idealism.

Kant’s notion of transcendental apperception (a priori self-awareness) is also carefully explained. Kaye shows that there is an extremely tight inter-relation between the unity of consciousness, representation, and apperception that constitutes a well-supported framework, one that offers a surprisingly strong set of replies to Hume’s skeptical challenges. He applies this framework to produce a coherent and detailed explanation of the Transcendental Deduction of the Categories, offering a thorough, paragraph-by-paragraph examination of the text in both editions.

This work should not only be of interest to Kant scholars, but also to any philosophers and cognitive scientists who are invested in any of the following topics: the unity and structure of consciousness, concepts, mental representation, self-awareness, and realism and idealism.

Details

Lexington Books

Pages: 280 • Trim: 6½ x 9¼

978-1-4985-0848-3 • Hardback • July 2015 • $128.00 • (£98.00)

978-1-4985-0850-6 • Paperback • August 2019 • $50.99 • (£39.00)

978-1-4985-0849-0 • eBook • July 2015 • $48.00 • (£37.00)

Subjects: Philosophy / History & Surveys / General, Philosophy / General, Philosophy / Mind & Body

Author

Lawrence J. Kaye is senior lecturer of philosophy at University of Massachusetts at Boston.

Table of Contents

1. Preliminaries
2. The Fundamental Framework: Unity, Representation and Apperception
3. The Initial Deduction and Kant’s Methodology
4. Representational Realism and Transcendental Idealism
5. The Three Syntheses
6. The Connected Deduction
7. The Revised Deduction: First Part
8. The Revised Deduction: Second Part
9. Other Interpretations
10. Theses and Arguments