The Meaning of 'Refutation' in Kant's Refutation of Idealism
In his “Refutation of Idealism” Kant promises what he calls a “refutation [Widerlegung]” of Cartesian skepticism. There are many difficult questions concerning the Refutation. In this article, I focus on a question concerning the Refutation that, to my knowledge, has thus far escaped scrutiny: what...
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2024-03-01
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| Online Access: | https://jmphil.org/article/id/1925/ |
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| author | Hyoung Sung Kim |
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| author_sort | Hyoung Sung Kim |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In his “Refutation of Idealism” Kant promises what he calls a “refutation [Widerlegung]” of Cartesian skepticism. There are many difficult questions concerning the Refutation. In this article, I focus on a question concerning the Refutation that, to my knowledge, has thus far escaped scrutiny: what does Kant mean, exactly, by a ‘refutation’? By examining Kant's legal, logical, and critical uses of 'refutation', I argue for what I call a ‘diagnostic’ reading of the Refutation: Kant seeks to identify the grounds for why someone might be attracted to Cartesian skepticism and then appeals to his doctrines concerning space and time in the Transcendental Aesthetic to show how such grounds contains a difficult-to-see error. In contemporary terms, Kantian 'refutations' resemble so-called ‘debunking arguments’ which seek to undermine a belief’s rational standing by characterizing the grounds for the belief in question as flawed, defective, or unfavorable. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e9b3e284785144d58b9ec20fdaf38022 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2644-0652 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-03-01 |
| publisher | Aperio |
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| series | Journal of Modern Philosophy |
| spelling | doaj-art-e9b3e284785144d58b9ec20fdaf380222025-01-31T16:09:07ZengAperioJournal of Modern Philosophy2644-06522024-03-016010.25894/jmp.1925The Meaning of 'Refutation' in Kant's Refutation of IdealismHyoung Sung Kim0Stanford UniversityIn his “Refutation of Idealism” Kant promises what he calls a “refutation [Widerlegung]” of Cartesian skepticism. There are many difficult questions concerning the Refutation. In this article, I focus on a question concerning the Refutation that, to my knowledge, has thus far escaped scrutiny: what does Kant mean, exactly, by a ‘refutation’? By examining Kant's legal, logical, and critical uses of 'refutation', I argue for what I call a ‘diagnostic’ reading of the Refutation: Kant seeks to identify the grounds for why someone might be attracted to Cartesian skepticism and then appeals to his doctrines concerning space and time in the Transcendental Aesthetic to show how such grounds contains a difficult-to-see error. In contemporary terms, Kantian 'refutations' resemble so-called ‘debunking arguments’ which seek to undermine a belief’s rational standing by characterizing the grounds for the belief in question as flawed, defective, or unfavorable.https://jmphil.org/article/id/1925/KantRefutation of Idealismskepticismspace and timefacts of reason |
| spellingShingle | Hyoung Sung Kim The Meaning of 'Refutation' in Kant's Refutation of Idealism Journal of Modern Philosophy Kant Refutation of Idealism skepticism space and time facts of reason |
| title | The Meaning of 'Refutation' in Kant's Refutation of Idealism |
| title_full | The Meaning of 'Refutation' in Kant's Refutation of Idealism |
| title_fullStr | The Meaning of 'Refutation' in Kant's Refutation of Idealism |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Meaning of 'Refutation' in Kant's Refutation of Idealism |
| title_short | The Meaning of 'Refutation' in Kant's Refutation of Idealism |
| title_sort | meaning of refutation in kant s refutation of idealism |
| topic | Kant Refutation of Idealism skepticism space and time facts of reason |
| url | https://jmphil.org/article/id/1925/ |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT hyoungsungkim themeaningofrefutationinkantsrefutationofidealism AT hyoungsungkim meaningofrefutationinkantsrefutationofidealism |