Immanuel Kant in Italia

Iniziative 2005

24-26 febbraio 2005

Momenti della ricezione di Kant nell’Ottocento

Padova, Sala dell’Archivio Antico, Palazzo del Bo (via 8 Febbraio, 2)

17 marzo 2005

Università degli Studi di Milano, Facoltà di Lettere e Filosofia, Aula Crociera Alta (via Festa del Perdono 7)

D.v. Engelhardt, M. Nasti De Vincentis, P. Parrini, S. Poggi, Itinerari del criticismo. Due secoli di eredità kantiana, ed. by C. Ferrini, Naples: Bibliopolis, 2005

This volume celebrates the bicentennial of Kant’s death, for it originates from a workshop hosted by the Istituto Italiano per gli Studi Filosofici in Palazzo Serra di Cassano (Naples) on February 12^th 2004, also on the occasion of the publication of the collection Eredità kantiane (1804-2004): Questioni emergenti e problemi irrisolti (ed. by C. Ferrini, Naples: Bibliopolis, 2004). The contributions further develop some of the lines of reasearch pursued in the previous collection, either focusing on the fortune and misfortune of the reception of Kantian criticism or explorying new and complementary fields of inquiry: such as the relationship between mathematica docens and utens or the relation between Kant’s philosophy, romantic science and philosophy of nature in the Goethezeit.

Paolo Parrini, "A due secoli da Kant: conoscenza, esperienza, metafisica della natura" (pp. 17-54)

This paper analyses the core ideas and arguments of thought that, beginning with Neo-Kantianism, aimed to defend some essential aspects of Kant's critical-transcendental epistemology against the philosophical implications typical of the great scientific developments of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. These core ideas and arguments are rooted in internal tensions and conflicts within Kant's thought; they face especially strong criticism based on results of the neo-empiricistic critique of Kant's and Cassirer's theories of the a priori. The paper does not intend to deny, however, the importance of examining Kant's theories in the light of both past and present developments of epistemology

Mauro Nasti de Vincentis, “Sintesi a priori e costruzione matematica” (pp. 55-87)

This paper chiefly aims to elucidate the relations between the pure or schematic construction - in Kant’s terms - of a mathematical concept and what is called a construction by working mathematicians. The paper considers examples drawn from geometry, in particular, the Euclidean constructions of the five Platonic polyhedra, where the impossibility - duly pointed out by Kant himself - of constructing a regular decahedron results, regrettably, from Euclid’s mistaken tenet that what is now called a ten-faced convex deltahedron is not constructible. Finally, as a ‘glimpse beyond’, the Kantian roots of modern constructive mathematics are also pointed out.

Dietrich von Engelhardt, “Kant e il rapporto fra scienze empiriche e filosofia della natura nel 1800” (pp. 89-116)

Within the context of the philosophy of nature around 1800, this paper examines, from an historical point of view, the dialogue between Kant’s philosophy and natural sciences, including medicine. The first part provides a short survey of various philosophical views on the empirical sciences of the time; the second part outlines the general concepts common to romantic science; the third part focuses on Kant’s approach to the relation between philosophy and science and on the reactions to it; the fourth part concludes with a glimpse beyond Kant, up to contemporary issues in medical therapy and bioethics.

Stefano Poggi, “La Kritik der Urteilskraft nell’Ottocento e nel Novecento. Alcune tappe di una ricezione” (pp. 117-143)

The critical literature on Kant's philosophy and its spread and influence still lacks of detailed account of the role played by Kant's third Critique, not only in the rise of Neokantianism, but also in its development and transformation from the mid-nineteenth century up to the Second World War. During this period, Kant's Critique of Judgement was relatively neglected: Kant's Newtonianism on one side, and his ethical rigorism on the other, are the two grounding pillars of mainstream interpretation of Kant. However, the demise of Neokantianism leads to a new assessment of the third Critique as the true ‘key’ to Kant's philosophy.