Theoretical Philosophy, 1755–1770

by Immanuel Kant , Edited by David Walford , With Ralf Meerbote

• ISBN13: 9780521531702
• ISBN10: 0521531705
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-06-02
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

This is the first volume of the first ever comprehensive edition of the works of Immanuel Kant in English translation. The eleven essays in this volume constitute Kant's theoretical, pre-critical philosophical writings from 1755 to 1770. Several of these pieces have never been translated into English before; others have long been unavailable in English. We can trace in these works the development of Kant's thought to the eventual emergence in 1770 of the two chief tenets of his mature philosophy: the subjectivity of space and time, and the phenomena-noumena distinction. The volume has been furnished with substantial editorial apparatus, including a general introduction to the main themes of Kant's early thought, introduction to the individual works and résumés of their contents, linguistic and factual notes, bibliographies, a glossary of key terms, and biographical-bibliographical sketches of persons mentioned by Kant.

Table of Contents

Introductions of the translations

1. A new elucidation of the first principles of metaphysical cognition (1755)

2. The employment in natural philosophy of metaphysics combined with geometry, of which sample I contains the physical monadology (1756)

3. An attempt at some reflections on optimism (1759)

4. The false subtlety of the four syllogistic figures (1762)

5. The only possible argument in support of a demonstration of the existence of God (1763)

6. Attempt to introduce the concept of negative magnitudes into philosophy (1763)

7. Inquiry concerning the distinctness of the principles of natural theology and morality (1764)

8. M. Immanuel Kant's announcement of the programme of his lectures for the winter semester 1765-1766 (1765)

9. Dreams of a spirit-seer elucidated by dreams of metaphysics (1766)

10. Concerning the ultimate ground of the differentiation of directions in space (1768)

11. On the form and principles of the sensible and the intelligible world [inaugural dissertation] (1770).