29.01.2013 Views

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 ...

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

play <strong>in</strong> the doctr<strong>in</strong>e. 223 As a result, it will be discussed only when it both appears <strong>in</strong> the<br />

referenced passages <strong>and</strong> those references exhibit particularly dist<strong>in</strong>ct formulations <strong>of</strong><br />

time, or is essential for underst<strong>and</strong><strong>in</strong>g the status <strong>and</strong> ramifications <strong>of</strong> the th<strong>in</strong>k<strong>in</strong>g<br />

subject‘s self-<strong>posit<strong>in</strong>g</strong> as space.<br />

When conceived as empty from any content, the concepts <strong>of</strong> these forms <strong>of</strong><br />

<strong>in</strong>tuition do not exhibit any change <strong>in</strong> nature from the KrV to the Op. One does however,<br />

f<strong>in</strong>ds that certa<strong>in</strong> <strong>of</strong> its characteristics are emphasized most. While the first <strong>in</strong>troductory<br />

quote‘s reference to the material simultaneity <strong>of</strong> space <strong>and</strong> time <strong>and</strong> thus appears to put<br />

<strong>in</strong>to question the role <strong>of</strong> space <strong>and</strong> time as it was presented <strong>in</strong> the KrV, there are also signs<br />

that this is not so clearly the case. <strong>The</strong> first passage affirms the subjective nature <strong>of</strong> their<br />

representations <strong>and</strong> the second <strong>in</strong>troductory quote states that space <strong>and</strong> time are forms <strong>of</strong><br />

receptivity. What dist<strong>in</strong>guishes both passages is that the first speaks <strong>of</strong> representation <strong>and</strong><br />

the second <strong>of</strong> form. In the KrV, Kant allows for both <strong>of</strong> these possibilities. As shown <strong>in</strong><br />

chapter one, qua pure form <strong>of</strong> <strong>in</strong>tuition, space <strong>and</strong> time were mere forms <strong>of</strong> relations; qua<br />

representation, they required the activity <strong>of</strong> the imag<strong>in</strong>ation. <strong>The</strong> latter was seen when<br />

the imag<strong>in</strong>ation posited the po<strong>in</strong>t <strong>of</strong> <strong>in</strong>tersection <strong>of</strong> the representation <strong>of</strong> three<br />

dimensional space. It was this activity that ―gave ‖ space to the consciousness <strong>of</strong> the<br />

subject. In addition, as Baum shows <strong>in</strong> ―Kant on Pure Intuition‖ is also the case that <strong>in</strong><br />

the ―Aesthetic‖ Kant starts the exhibition <strong>of</strong> the concept or object that is space as a k<strong>in</strong>d<br />

<strong>of</strong> representation. <strong>The</strong> exhibition was then shown to lead to the fact that it was a k<strong>in</strong>d <strong>of</strong><br />

representation that is unique to <strong>in</strong>tuition alone. Indeed, it is an immediate form <strong>of</strong><br />

223 Unfortunately, this means that despite the scarcity <strong>of</strong> commentary on the status <strong>of</strong> time<br />

<strong>in</strong> the Op, what appear as promis<strong>in</strong>g l<strong>in</strong>es <strong>of</strong> <strong>in</strong>quiry on the subject will have to be<br />

excluded. Some such moments that draw the reader <strong>in</strong> occur as one reads for example:<br />

―See<strong>in</strong>g needs time‖ (Ak: 21:71).<br />

154

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!