Theoretical Philosophy, 1755-1770 (The Cambridge Edition of the Works of Immanuel Kant) [Paperback]

Immanuel Kant (Author), David Walford (Editor), Ralf Meerbote (Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 2, 2003 | ISBN-10: 0521531705 | ISBN-13: 978-0521531702

The eleven essays in this volume constitute Kant's theoretical, pre-critical philosophical writings from 1755 to 1770. Several essays have never been translated into English before, while others have long been unavailable. The development of Kant's thought can be traced to the eventual emergence in 1770 of the two chief tenets of his mature philosophy: the subjectivity of space and time, and the phenomena-noumena distinction. Hb ISBN (1992): 0-521-39214-4

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This is an excellent edition, a work that should fulfill the high hopes its chief editors place upon the whole series: to serve as an 'instrument of stimulus for the further development of Kant studies by English speaking readers in the century to come.'" The Philosophical Review

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: German --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 628 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press (June 2, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521531705
• ISBN-13: 978-0521531702
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #878,136 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) was one of the most influential philosophers of all time. His comprehensive and profound thinking on aesthetics, ethics, and knowledge has had an immense impact on all subsequent philosophy.

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0 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This book has been studied, not just read, February 21, 2003

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Bruce P. Barten - See all my reviews

This review is from: Theoretical Philosophy, 1755-1770 (The Cambridge Edition of the Works of Immanuel Kant) (Hardcover)

In the newly released KANT ON SWEDENBORG, consisting of DREAMS OF A SPIRIT-SEER AND OTHER WRITINGS, Edited by Gregory R. Johnson, there are two paragraphs devoted to the translation which is contained in this book:

The third translation, DREAMS OF A SPIRIT-SEER ELUCIDATED BY DREAMS OF METAPHYSICS, appeared in 1992. It is the work of David Walford in collaboration with Ralf Meerbote, both of them established Kant scholars. The intention of Walford's edition is straightforward. It appears in a collection of Kant's precritical writings in the first volume of the Cambridge Edition of the Works of Immanuel Kant, THEORETICAL PHILOSOPHY, 1755-1770.
. . . Walford's translation is highly accurate and very readable. Indeed, it would be hard to justify a new translation of DREAMS at all were the Walford translation available in an inexpensive paperback edition.

Unfortunately, the only entry for David Walford in the index of KANT ON SWEDENBORG is to the page with the information above. Kant's DREAMS was published as an anonymous pamphlet, and did not contain the scholarly notes which appear on pages 156-183 of KANT ON SWEDENBORG, many of which refer to this book (henceforth Walford). Readers of KANT ON SWEDENBORG who would like to check the citations for this information need this book to refer to:

To appreciate the continuity of Kant's conception of matter throughout his career both before and after DREAMS, see . . . Walford, 53-65 . . .

Walford offers two sources for this argument: . . .

On the impenetrability of matter, see . . . Walford, 56-60: . . . Walford, 218 and . . . Walford, 260.

On the repulsive force of matter, see . . . Walford 56-60; . . . Walford, 218 and . . . Walford, 260.

On materials entities filling the space in which they operate, see . . . Walford, 56-57 . . .

Kant makes essentially the same distinction, between "virtual" and "local" presence, in . . . Walford, 409-410; . . . See also . . . Walford, 56-57; INQUIRY (AK 2: 286-288; Walford, 259-261).

All of the above notes pertain to paragraphs 3-7 of Part I, Chapter 1, "A Tangled Metaphysical Knot That Can Be Either Untied or Cut as One Pleases." The next note in KANT ON SWEDENBORG attempts to locate a source for Kant's remark, in paragraph 7, "Therefore, I would demand a strong proof to find absurd what the scholastics said: `My soul is wholly in my body, and wholly in each of its parts.' " Johnson's note 18. "Walford (449, n11) claims that this phrase derives from Daries . . . The idea is, however, clearly much older: cf. Thomas Hobbes . . ." and goes on to Plotinus (c. 204/5-270), ENNEAD IV.7 "On the Immortality of the Soul," 8.2. Johnson carefully studied Kant's later writings for signs that Kant had adopted elements of Swedenborg's thoughts for his own use. He found lecture notes that Mrongovius dated to the winter semester of 1782-3 in which Kant lectured: "The ancients also said: anima est tota in corpore, sed totum tamen in parte ejus" in latin, of course, and the METAPHYSIK VIGILANTIUS had a different variation.

Kant did not attempt a detailed description of the ideas of Swedenborg until Part II of DREAMS OF A SPIRIT-SEER, Chapter 2, Ecstatic Journey of an Enthusiast Through the Spirit World." His paragraphs are long, and my favorite part doesn't come until the final sentence of the third paragraph. "Thus, although I have robbed the reader of some of the moments that he may have otherwise devoted with no great benefit to the reading of thorough books on just this material, I have at the same time, for the delicacy of his tastes, through the omission of many wild chimeras, brought the quintessence of the book to a few drops, for which I expect from him just as much thanks as a certain patient believed he was obliged to the doctors who let him eat the bark of the quinquina when they could have easily made him eat the whole tree." (Johnson translation, KANT ON SWEDENBORG, p. 50).

I can't decide how many pages on this anyone should want, but now you can shop around for what you would consider most suitable.