The Doctrine of Self-positing and Receptivity in Kant's Late ...
The Doctrine of Self-positing and Receptivity in Kant's Late ...
The Doctrine of Self-positing and Receptivity in Kant's Late ...
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where the earlier <strong>in</strong>determ<strong>in</strong>ate empirical <strong>in</strong>tuition belongs. It is as if the logical act<br />
discussed <strong>in</strong> the first moment <strong>of</strong> the ―analytic‖ level <strong>of</strong> the doctr<strong>in</strong>e assumes always<br />
already a relationship between the sensible I (the ―<strong>in</strong>determ<strong>in</strong>ate empirical <strong>in</strong>tuition‖) <strong>and</strong><br />
the <strong>in</strong>tellectual I (th<strong>in</strong>k<strong>in</strong>g). <strong>The</strong> ―I th<strong>in</strong>k,‖ <strong>in</strong> this account, is the representation <strong>of</strong> that<br />
first unity out <strong>of</strong> which it is possible for the subject to be conscious <strong>of</strong> itself. And, due to<br />
the fact that the <strong>in</strong>tuitive manifold <strong>of</strong> this ―sens<strong>in</strong>g I‖ is <strong>in</strong>determ<strong>in</strong>ate – for no modi nor<br />
category are yet at play – the result <strong>of</strong> this orig<strong>in</strong>al attribution is a self-consciousness as<br />
an Object, but only to the extent <strong>in</strong> which it is unified under a s<strong>in</strong>gle ―I th<strong>in</strong>k.‖ From the<br />
perspective <strong>of</strong> this passage from the KrV – the most similar to the Selbstsetzungslehre –<br />
the ―I th<strong>in</strong>k‖ is thus considered as an empirical expression <strong>of</strong> both the <strong>in</strong>tellectual I <strong>and</strong><br />
the sensible I, where the latter is already attributed to the former, but where they are both<br />
still ―<strong>in</strong> general.‖ <strong>The</strong> ―I th<strong>in</strong>k‖ expresses these analytically.<br />
In so far as the ―I th<strong>in</strong>k‖ represents an act <strong>and</strong> is analyzed propositionally, then the<br />
only content that can be conta<strong>in</strong>ed analytically with<strong>in</strong> it, is an ―<strong>in</strong>tellectual I‖ that is<br />
noth<strong>in</strong>g but th<strong>in</strong>k<strong>in</strong>g. This is Kant‘s dom<strong>in</strong>ant approach or orientation <strong>in</strong> the KrV <strong>and</strong><br />
Descartes critique. On the other h<strong>and</strong>, from a synthetic or ontological perspective, the ―I<br />
th<strong>in</strong>k‖ st<strong>and</strong>s for an ―act <strong>of</strong> spontaneity‖ out <strong>of</strong> which the ―passive sens<strong>in</strong>g I,‖ with all <strong>of</strong><br />
the <strong>in</strong>determ<strong>in</strong>ate representations that it is, is attributed <strong>in</strong> a unity by the ―<strong>in</strong>tellectual I‖ to<br />
the ―<strong>in</strong>tellectual I‖ itself.<br />
From the referenced passage <strong>in</strong> the KrV together with Baum‘s <strong>in</strong>sights <strong>and</strong> the<br />
resources thus far provided by the analysis <strong>of</strong> the Selbstsetzungslehre, there is a first<br />
approximation to what ―führt‖ between the logical <strong>and</strong> the ontological levels <strong>of</strong> the<br />
doctr<strong>in</strong>e mean. Moreover, the mean<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> the analytic level‘s underst<strong>and</strong><strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong><br />
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