The Teleology of Reason: A Study of the Structure of Kant’s Critical Philosophy

451 Pages·2014·2.516 MB·English

by  Courtney D. Fugate

Courtney D. Fugate
The Teleology of Reason
Kantstudien-Ergänzungshefte
im Auftrag der Kant-Gesellschaft
herausgegeben von
Manfred Baum, Bernd Dörflinger
und Heiner F. Klemme
Band 178
Courtney D. Fugate
The Teleology
of Reason
A Study of the Structure of Kant’s Critical
Philosophy
DE GRUYTER
ISBN978-3-11-030626-2
e-ISBN978-3-11-030648-4
ISSN0340-6059
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To Maximilian

Preface
This work argues from both historical and systematicgrounds that teleological
motiveslieattheheartofKant’scriticalturn, andthatapreciseanalysisoftel-
eologicalstructurescanbothilluminatethebasicstrategyofthecriticalsystem’s
foundingargumentsandprovideakeytounderstandingtheunityofKant’sphi-
losophy.Inshort,ittriestojustifyKant’sassertionintheCritiqueofPureReason
that his philosophy, as a philosophy in the genuine sense of a doctrine of wis-
dom, is ultimately a“teleologia rationis humanae” (A839/B867). By comparison
with other discussions of teleology in Kant, the present work does not focus
on the Critique of Teleological Judgment or concern itself with the details of
the explicitly teleological elements in Kant’s later historical, anthropological
or political writings. This is not because I thought these to be unimportant,
sincequitethecontraryisinfacttrue.ThereasonisthatIdesiredtogoasdeeply
aspossibleintotherootsoftheseelementsinKant’sthought,andthisengaged
meininvestigationsintoKant’spre-criticalphilosophyandintoteleologicalcon-
cepts in general that precluded attention to manyother interesting issues.
Thisworkisarevisedandgreatlyshortenedversionofmydoctoraldisserta-
tion,deliveredattheHigherInstituteofPhilosophy,CatholicUniversityofLeuv-
en,Belgium,inDecember2010.IwouldliketothankMartinMoors,myadvisor,
formanyyearsofguidanceandsupport,andtheentirefacultyoftheInstitutefor
alltheyhavetaughtme.TheoriginaldissertationwontheSilvestroMarcucciIn-
ternationalDissertationPrize2009–2010,co-financedbytheAccademiaLucch-
ese di Scienze, Lettere de Arti, and judged by Bernd Dörflinger (Trier), Mario
Caimi(BuenosAires),AlfredoFerrarin(BostonUniversityandPisa),LucaFonne-
su(Pavia)andClaudioLaRocca(Genova).Mythankstothejudgesandthestaff
of the Marcucci Foundation, and in particular to the Marcucci family, Alfredo
Ferrarin and Claudio La Rocca for their warm reception of me in Lucca. I also
wish to thank the Fox Center for Humanistic Inquiry at Emory University,
where I am currently a post-doctoral fellow, along with its director, Martine W.
Brownley, and its wonderful staff for all their support while I revised this
work. I would like to thank John Hymers for collaborating with me on projects
thathavecertainlyinfluencedimportantelementsofthisworkandLucasThorpe
forhisunflaggingencouragement.ThankstoTom,Matt,Rob,Nate,Oliver,Brom,
Hanno,JensandLawrenceforenrichingmypersonalandphilosophicallifeover
the years. Finally,thanks to my wife Jennifer.
Atlanta
January 6, 2014

Contents
Abbreviations and the Use of Translations XV
Part I:Preliminary Investigations 1
Chapter 
Motivations 3
Introduction 3
§. . Preliminary Sketch of the Telic Structure of Kant’s System of
Philosophy 4
§. .. The Teleology of Theoretical Reason 5
§. .. The Teleology of Pure Practical Reason 9
§. .. The Doctrine of Wisdom as the End of the System of
Philosophy 13
§. .. TeleologyandtheTranscendentalPossibilityoftheKantianSystem
of Philosophy 15
§. .. The Unity of Reason 20
§. . The Teleological Tradition Before and After Kant 24
§. .. Teleology in the Philosophies of Kant’s German
Predecessors 30
§. .. The Legacy of Kant’s Teleology of Reason in Fichte 33
§. . Current Views on the Role of Teleology in Kant’s Critical
Philosophy 42
§. .. Reactions to the Popular View 47
§. .. Teleology in special studies of Kant’s philosophy 51
Conclusion 56
Chapter 
Teleology: Rudiments of a Theory 57
Introduction 57
Teleology: Not Reducible to a Pattern of Behavior 60
Two Examples of this Tendency in Studies of the History of Philosohpy:
Bennett and Couturat 64
§. . Teleological Inferences: From Pattern to Purpose 68
§. .. Teleological and Non-Teleological Inferences 72
§. .. Traditional Teleological Arguments for God’s Existence 75
§. .. Concluding Reflections 80
§. . Teleological Explanations: From Purpose to Pattern 81