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A Solution to the Problem of Affection

McGrath, Austin J.
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1397208293

Abstract Details

2014, Master of Arts (MA), Ohio University, Philosophy (Arts and Sciences).
Immanuel Kant speaks of human sensation in the Transcendental Aesthetic as occurring only on the condition that an object be "given to us" by way of affecting the mind. Some commentators think there is problem with Kant's account of affection in that they read Kant to be illegitimately applying some of the categories of the understanding, e.g., causality and existence, beyond the realm of possible experience. This is problematic in that Kant repeatedly states that the categories (including causality and existence) have application only to objects of experience and thus have no application to things in themselves or noumena. This reading holds Kant's philosophy to be internally inconsistent. In this essay, I try to save Kant from inconsistency and offer a solution to the problem of affection that is supported by a specific interpretation of transcendental philosophy. Specifically, I argue that the solution to the problem of affection is given by considering the relation obtaining between affecting object and the senses to be logical. This logical relation is found in the hypothetical form of antecedent and consequent where the antecedent grounds the consequent. I will also argue that we must think of this grounding relation in analogy to a causal one, that is, we think of the affecting object as if it were the cause of the matter of sensibility. In the process of expounding this solution, I will also be arguing for a "one world" interpretation of transcendental idealism.
James Petrik (Advisor)
John Bender (Committee Member)
Alfred Lent (Committee Member)
60 p.
Philosophy
Kant; Transcendental Idealism; Problem of Affection; Thing in Itself; Unschematized Category; One World Theory; Transcendental Causality; Supersensible Causation; Supersensible Existence

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • McGrath, A. J. (2014). A Solution to the Problem of Affection [Master's thesis, Ohio University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1397208293

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • McGrath, Austin. A Solution to the Problem of Affection. 2014. Ohio University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1397208293.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • McGrath, Austin. "A Solution to the Problem of Affection." Master's thesis, Ohio University, 2014. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1397208293

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ohiou1397208293
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This open access ETD is published by Ohio University and OhioLINK.
Release 3.2.12