Kant and the Subject of Critique: On the Regulative Role of the Psychological Idea

Immanuel Kant is strict about the limits of self-knowledge: our inner sense gives us only appearances, never the reality, of ourselves. Kant may seem to begin his inquiries with an uncritical conception of cognitive limits, but in Kant and the Subject of Critique, Avery Goldman argues that, even for Kant, a reflective act must take place before any judgment occurs. Building on Kant's metaphysics, which uses the soul, the world, and God as regulative principles, Goldman demonstrates how Kant can open doors to reflection, analysis, language, sensibility, and understanding. By establishing a regulative self, Goldman offers a way to bring unity to the subject through Kant's seemingly circular reasoning, allowing for critique and, ultimately, knowledge.

"Original and expertly executed.... the regulative idea of the soul both makes possible the undertaking of critique and follows from it." --Bernard Freydberg, Duquesne University

"Kant is strict about the limits of self-knowledge: our inner sense give us only appearances--never the reality--of ourselves. Avery Goldman shows lucidly and brilliantly how the regulative use of a psychological idea--the idea of a critical, thinking self--can resolve this paradox." --David Farrell Krell, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Indiana University Press

"Goldman deserves credit for providing a sustained and resourceful argument that shows the importance of the notion of the subject for comprehending Kant's transcendental method. For this reason, the present volume should interest both Kant scholars and those interested in the German idealist tradition." --Journal of the History of Philosophy

"... original, interesting, important...." --Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews

"Goldman has written an important book that addresses the metacritical objection to Kant--that in his inquiry into the conditions of knowledge, he makes cognitive and metaphysical claims that exceed the limits of cognition that the first Critique establishes." --The Review of Metaphysics Indiana University Press

Avery Goldman is Associate Professor of Philosophy at DePaul University.

Acknowledgments

Introduction: The Circularity of Critique

1. The Ideas of Reason

2. The Boundary of Phenomena and Noumena

3. The Designation of the Region of Experience in the Critique of Pure Reason

4. Transcendental Reflection: Interpreting the Amphiboly via 76 of the Critique of Judgment

5. The Paralogisms of Pure Reason: In Search of a Regulative Principle for Transcendental Reflection

6. Transcendental Method: The Orientation of Critique

Notes

Bibliography

Index