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The Doctrine of Self-positing and Receptivity in Kant's Late ...

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his account was circular. As Förster notes: ―On the one h<strong>and</strong>, attraction is said to be<br />

always proportional to the quantity <strong>of</strong> matter; on the other h<strong>and</strong>, Kant argued that only<br />

‗by such an action <strong>and</strong> reaction <strong>of</strong> both fundamental forces, matter would be possible by a<br />

determ<strong>in</strong>ate degree <strong>of</strong> fill<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> space,‘ hence by a determ<strong>in</strong>ate quantity.‖ 23 In other<br />

words, while attraction is accounted for <strong>in</strong> relation to quantity <strong>of</strong> matter, quantity <strong>of</strong><br />

matter is be<strong>in</strong>g accounted for <strong>in</strong> terms <strong>of</strong> attraction as one <strong>of</strong> the two fundamental forces.<br />

Without go<strong>in</strong>g any further <strong>in</strong>to the mean<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> this with<strong>in</strong> Kant‘s overall metaphysics <strong>of</strong><br />

nature, know<strong>in</strong>g that he was not satisfied with his early first step <strong>in</strong> develop<strong>in</strong>g a<br />

metaphysics <strong>of</strong> nature gives further context to the significance <strong>of</strong> the Op, particularly the<br />

relationship <strong>of</strong> his ―ether deductions‘ to any systematic ―gap.‖ If the published text <strong>of</strong> the<br />

MAN is a failed project, then one has to ask how great the gap is <strong>and</strong> what we ought to<br />

underst<strong>and</strong> when Kant speaks <strong>of</strong> a ―transition‖ that orig<strong>in</strong>ates—accord<strong>in</strong>g to the projected<br />

title <strong>of</strong> what today is called the Op—from ―the metaphysical foundations <strong>of</strong> natural<br />

science.‖<br />

<strong>The</strong> emphasis on address<strong>in</strong>g the question <strong>of</strong> the ―gap‖ <strong>in</strong> terms <strong>of</strong> the ―ether<br />

deductions‖ <strong>in</strong> the English language literature has created an <strong>in</strong>terpretative asymmetry, as<br />

it were, when compared to the k<strong>in</strong>d <strong>of</strong> treatment that has been given to the<br />

Selbstsetzungslehre. <strong>The</strong> root <strong>of</strong> this asymmetry may be partly traced to the reception <strong>of</strong><br />

the text <strong>in</strong> the early twentieth century—a reception that <strong>in</strong>scribed a two-part structure to<br />

the Op. Vaih<strong>in</strong>ger, Vörl<strong>and</strong>er, <strong>and</strong> Krause held that the manuscript was composed <strong>of</strong> two<br />

dist<strong>in</strong>ct texts; the first was considered ―<strong>The</strong> Transition <strong>of</strong> the Metaphysical Pr<strong>in</strong>ciples <strong>of</strong><br />

23 Förster, E. ―Kant‘s Selbstsetzungslehre‖ <strong>in</strong> Kant‘s Transcendental Deductions: <strong>The</strong><br />

Three Critiques <strong>and</strong> the O.p, ed. Eckart Förster. Stanford, Stanford University Press<br />

1989, 224. Förster‘s citation: Ak: 4:521. Friedman, 231.<br />

13

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