Kant and the Metaphysics of Causality

A book about Kant's views on causality as understood in their proper historical context.

Eric Watkins (Author)

9780521835671, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 20 December 2004

464 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 3 cm, 0.72 kg

'… an interesting and important work, which could be one of the two or three most significant works on Kant's theoretical philosophy to be published in the last decade.' Paul Guyer, University of Pennsylvania

This is a book about Kant's views on causality as understood in their proper historical context. Specifically, Eric Watkins argues that a grasp of Leibnizian and anti-Leibnizian thought in eighteenth-century Germany helps one to see how the critical Kant argued for causal principles that have both metaphysical and epistemological elements. On this reading Kant's model of causality does not consist of events, but rather of substances endowed with causal powers that are exercised according to their natures and circumstances. This innovative conception of Kant's view of causality casts a light on Kant's philosophical beliefs in general, such as his account of temporality, his explanation of the reconciliation of freedom and determinism, and his response to the skeptical arguments of Hume.

Introduction
Part I. Causality in Context: 1. Pre-established harmony versus physical influx
2. Kant's pre-critical theory of causality
Part II. Causality in the Critical Period: 3. Kant's second and third analogies of experience
4. Kant's model of causality
Part III. Causality and Consequences: 5. The metaphysics of freedom
6. Kant's reply to Hume: historical and contemporary considerations.

Subject Areas: History of ideas [JFCX], Philosophy: epistemology & theory of knowledge [HPK], Philosophy: metaphysics & ontology [HPJ], Western philosophy: c 1600 to c 1900 [HPCD]