Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Kant on the Foundations of Science

  • Chapter
Nature Mathematized

Part of the book series: The University of Western Ontario Series in Philosophy of Science ((WONS,volume 20))

Abstract

The most common view of Kant’s Metaphysical Foundations of Natural Science (MFNS)1 is that is represents an explicit effort by Kant to provide an a priori justification for the Newtonian world view. It is usually argued that Kant attempted to provide this justification by deducing the main tenets of Newtonian mechanics directly from his critical philosophy.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
eBook
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Notes

  1. I. Kant, Metaphysical Foundations of Natural Science, trans, by J. Ellington, Bobbs-Merrill, Indianapolis, 1970. (This translation is based on volume four of the Königliche Preussische Akademie der Wissenschaften edition of Kant’s works. Page numbers in that edition will be given in parentheses.)

    Google Scholar 

  2. Elsewhere in this volume.

    Google Scholar 

  3. MFNS, pp. 102–117 (541-553).

    Google Scholar 

  4. I. Newton, Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy, trans. by Motte and Cajori, Definition III.

    Google Scholar 

  5. Two of the most helpful discussions are to be found in: R. S. Westfall, Force in Newton’s Physics: The Science of Dynamics in the Seventeenth Century, American Elsevier, New York, 1971, and E. McMullin, Newton on Matter and Activity, University of Notre Dame Press, 1978.

    Google Scholar 

  6. Westfall, ibid., p. 450.

    Google Scholar 

  7. I. Kant, Prolegomena to any Future Metaphysics, ed. by Beck, Bobbs-Merrill, Indianapolis, 1950, p. 75.

    Google Scholar 

  8. G. W. Leibniz: ‘Whether the Essence of a Body Consists in Extension’, Journal de Savons, June 18, 1691. Reproduced in Leibniz Selections, P.Wiener (ed.), Scribner’s, New York, 1951, pp. 100-102.

    Google Scholar 

  9. I. Kant, Gedanken von der wahren Schätzung der lebendigen Kräfte und Beurtheilung der Beweise (etc.), Königsberg, 1747.

    Google Scholar 

  10. Cited in I. Polonoff, Force, Cosmos, Monads, and Other Themes of Kant’s Early Thougt (sic), Bonn, Bouvier Verlag Herbert Grundmann, 1973, p. 43.

    Google Scholar 

  11. The ensuing discussion is based largely on Polonoff, ibid., especially Chapter 1.

    Google Scholar 

  12. I. Kant, Metaphysicae cum geometria iunctae usus in philosophis naturali, cuius specimen I. continet monadologiam physicam, Königsberg, 1757.

    Google Scholar 

  13. Barbara Jill Buroker: ‘Kant and the Dynamical Tradition: A Case Study of the Role of Matter in Explanation’, PSA 1972, Schaffner and Cohen (eds.), D. Reidel Publ. Co., Dordrecht, Holland.

    Google Scholar 

  14. Cf. Kant’s discussion of the difference between the methods of mathematics and philosophy toward the end of the first Critique (A 713 / B 741 and following).

    Google Scholar 

  15. MFNS, p. 91 (533).

    Google Scholar 

  16. MFNS, p. 79 (525).

    Google Scholar 

  17. MFNS, p. 80 (525).

    Google Scholar 

  18. MFNS, p. 80 (525).

    Google Scholar 

  19. MFNS, p. 78 (524).

    Google Scholar 

  20. MFNS, p. 90 (532).

    Google Scholar 

  21. This section is primarily a response to a question asked by Robert Butts at the conference where this paper was read.

    Google Scholar 

  22. The best discussion of this and related topics is to be found in G. Buchdahl, Metaphysics and the Philosophy of Science, Blackwell, Oxford, 1969, Chapter VIII.

    Google Scholar 

  23. MFNS, p. 114 (551).

    Google Scholar 

  24. Cf. Y. Elkana: ‘Scientific and Metaphysical Problems: Euler and Kant’, Methodological and Historical Essays in the Natural and Social Sciences, Cohen and Wartofsky (eds.), D. Reidel Publ. Co., Dordrecht, Holland, 1974, pp. 277–305.

    Google Scholar 

  25. L. Euler, Letters of Euler on Different Subjects in Natural Philosophy Addressed to a German Princess, Harper and Brothers, New York, 1843, vol. I, p. 252. (Hereafter this work will be referred to as LGP.)

    Google Scholar 

  26. LGP, vol. I, p. 251.

    Google Scholar 

  27. LGP, vol. I, p. 251.

    Google Scholar 

  28. LGP, vol. I, p. 252.

    Google Scholar 

  29. LGP, vol. I, p. 260.

    Google Scholar 

  30. MFNS, p. 114 (551).

    Google Scholar 

  31. L. Euler, Theoria Motus Corporum Solidorum, Chapter II, § § 78–84. Reproduced in The Concepts of Space and Time, M. Čapek (ed.), D. Reidel Publ. Co., Dordrecht, Holland, 1976, pp. 111-119.

    Google Scholar 

  32. LGP, vol. I, p. 263.

    Google Scholar 

  33. I wish to thank J. R. Brown for his assistance in preparing this essay.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Western Ontario, Canada

    Kathleen Okruhlik

Authors
  1. Kathleen Okruhlik
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Philosophy, McGill University, Canada

    William R. Shea

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 1983 D. Reidel Publishing Company, Dordrecht, Holland

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Okruhlik, K. (1983). Kant on the Foundations of Science. In: Shea, W.R. (eds) Nature Mathematized. The University of Western Ontario Series in Philosophy of Science, vol 20. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-6957-5_11

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-6957-5_11

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-009-6959-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-009-6957-5

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation