Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-vdxz6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T06:00:10.938Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

6 - The Demands of Theoretical Reason and Self-Knowledge

from Part III - The Human Person and the Demands of Reason

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 December 2020

Katharina T. Kraus
Affiliation:
University of Notre Dame, Indiana
Get access

Summary

Chapter 6, “The Demands of Theoretical Reason and Self-Knowledge”, completes Kant’s account of empirical self-knowledge – the theoretical knowledge I have of myself as a psychological person. Following Kant’s general theory of knowledge, I argue that self-knowledge requires – in addition to a cognition of myself – an attitude of assent towards this cognition and an epistemic ground for holding this cognition to be true. By laying out different types of epistemic grounds, I distinguish corresponding levels of self-knowledge. The highest level is a complete comprehension of myself based on an a priori idea of myself as a whole. While this highest level can never be attained, it sets the normative standard for all lower levels of self-knowledge. Hence, we are bound to conceptualize all psychological phenomena in accordance with a system of psychological predicates, and to approximate a complete individual self-concept, which, if available, would completely a+H9nd fully adequately describe an individual person. Finally, I outline possibilities of error, such as self-blindness and self-deceit, and revaluate the doctrine of transparency that is often ascribed to Kant.

Type
Chapter
Information
Kant on Self-Knowledge and Self-Formation
The Nature of Inner Experience
, pp. 217 - 250
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×