Kant's Theory of Science

Gordon G. Brittan

Published by Princeton University Press 1978

Kant's Theory of Science

Gordon G. Brittan

Volume 1620 in the series Princeton Legacy Library

https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400867486

Overview
Contents

About this book

While interest in Kant's philosophy has increased in recent years, very little of it has focused on his theory of science. This book gives a general account of that theory, of its motives and implications, and of the way it brought forth a new conception of the nature of philosophical thought.

To reconstruct Kant's theory of science, the author identifies unifying themes of his philosophy of mathematics and philosophy of physics, both undergirded by his distinctive logical doctrines, and shows how they come together to form a relatively consistent system of ideas. A new analysis of the structure of central arguments in the Critique of Pure Reason and the Prolegomena draws on recent developments in logic and the philosophy of science.

Professor Brittan's unified account of the philosophies of mathematics and physics explores the nature of Kant's commitment to Euclidean geometry and Newtonian mechanics as well as providing an integrated reading of the Critique of Pure Reason and the Metaphysical Foundations of Natural Science. Contemporary ideas help both to illuminate Kant's position and to show how that position, in turn, illuminates contemporary problems in the philosophy of science.

Originally published in 1978.

The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Preface Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	vii
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	xi
Chapter 1: the anti-reductionist Kant Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	3
Chapter 2: Kant's philosophy of mathematics Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	43
Chapter 3: geometry, Euclidean and non-Euclidean Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	68
Chapter 4: the axioms of intuition Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	90
Chapter 5: Kant and Newton Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	117
Chapter 6: the substance of matter Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	143
Chapter 7: time and causality Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	165
Chapter 8: the problem of induction and its "solution" Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	188
Selected Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	209
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	211