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.

unity is expressed.<br />

In the second <strong>and</strong> third passages setzen aga<strong>in</strong> appears to function as the<br />

affirmation <strong>of</strong> a determ<strong>in</strong>ate condition or state <strong>of</strong> affairs. He writes,<br />

... accord<strong>in</strong>g to a rule: from which it results, first, that I cannot reverse the<br />

series <strong>and</strong> place that which happens prior to that which it follows; <strong>and</strong>,<br />

second, that if the state that precedes it is posited, then this determ<strong>in</strong>ate<br />

occurrence <strong>in</strong>evitably follows. 90<br />

… if this is posited, the other would necessarily have to follow.<br />

Contrariwise, if I were to posit that which precedes <strong>and</strong> the occurrence did<br />

not follow it necessarily, then I would have to hold it to be only a<br />

subjective play <strong>of</strong> my imag<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>gs, <strong>and</strong> if I still represented someth<strong>in</strong>g<br />

objective by it I would have to call it a mere dream. 91<br />

Here the affirmations <strong>of</strong> the ―objectivity‖ <strong>of</strong> these states <strong>of</strong> affairs occur over the<br />

temporal succession characteristic <strong>of</strong> the apprehended manifold (merely subjective).<br />

And, by such <strong>posit<strong>in</strong>g</strong>, the succession changes <strong>in</strong> character from be<strong>in</strong>g a flow <strong>of</strong><br />

representations with no relationship among one another to acquir<strong>in</strong>g an ordered series <strong>of</strong><br />

a before <strong>and</strong> after (or first, second, third, etc.). By means <strong>of</strong> the rule <strong>in</strong> the schematism,<br />

the series <strong>of</strong> representations are neither reversible nor cont<strong>in</strong>gent. If there are any<br />

changes <strong>in</strong> a state <strong>of</strong> affairs, it is now possible to evaluate the changes <strong>in</strong> an object <strong>in</strong><br />

90 KrV, B243. Orig<strong>in</strong>al: ―[...] d.i. nach e<strong>in</strong>er Regel, folgt: woraus sich denn ergiebt, daß<br />

ich erstlich nicht die Reihe umkehren und das, was geschieht, demjenigen voransetzen<br />

kann, worauf es folgt; zweitens daß, wenn der Zust<strong>and</strong>, der vor|hergeht, gesetzt wird,<br />

diese bestimmte Begebenheit unausbleiblich und nothwendig folge.‖<br />

91 KrV, B247. Orig<strong>in</strong>al: ―[...] wenn dieses gesetzt ist, das <strong>and</strong>re nothwendig folgen<br />

müsse. Soll also me<strong>in</strong>e Wahrnehmung die Erkenntniß e<strong>in</strong>er Begebenheit enthalten, da<br />

nämlich etwas wirklich geschieht: so muß sie e<strong>in</strong> empirisches Urtheil se<strong>in</strong>, <strong>in</strong> welchem<br />

man sich denkt, daß die Folge bestimmt sei, d.i. daß sie e<strong>in</strong>e <strong>and</strong>ere Ersche<strong>in</strong>ung der |<br />

Zeit nach voraussetze, worauf sie nothwendig oder nach e<strong>in</strong>er Regel folgt. Widrigenfalls,<br />

wenn ich das Vorhergehende setze, und die Begebenheit folgte nicht darauf nothwendig,<br />

so würde ich sie nur für e<strong>in</strong> subjectives Spiel me<strong>in</strong>er E<strong>in</strong>bildungen halten || müssen und,<br />

stellte ich mir darunter doch etwas Objectives vor, sie e<strong>in</strong>en bloßen Traum nennen.―<br />

63

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

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!