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Kant on the ‘Wise Adaptation’ of Our Cognitive Faculties: The Limits of Knowledge and the Possibility of the Highest Good

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 December 2024

Dylan Shaul
Dylan Shaul*
Affiliation:
University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA, USA
*
Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

This article provides a new reconstruction and evaluation of Kant’s argument in §IX of the second Critique’s Dialectic. Kant argues that our cognitive faculties are wisely adapted to our practical vocation since their failure to supply theoretical knowledge of God and the immortal soul is a condition of possibility for the highest good. This new reconstruction improves upon past efforts by greater fidelity to the form and content of Kant’s argument. I show that evaluating Kant’s argument requires settling various other issues in the interpretation of his moral philosophy, e.g. his account of moral psychology, motivation, education, and development.

Keywords

cognitive facultieshighest goodknowledgeGodimmortal soul
Type
Article
Information
Kantian Review , First View , pp. 1 - 21
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Kantian Review

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