Kant’s Doctrine of Transcendental Illusion

This major study of Kant provides a detailed examination of the development and function of the doctrine of transcendental illusion in his theoretical philosophy. The author shows that a theory of ‘illusion’ plays a central role in Kant’s arguments about metaphysical speculation and scientific theory. Indeed, she argues that we cannot understand Kant unless we take seriously his claim that the mind inevitably acts in accordance with ideas and principles that are ‘illusory’. Taking this claim seriously, we can make much better sense of Kant’s arguments and reach a deeper understanding of the role he allots human reason in science.

• Offers a detailed commentary of important sections of the Critique of Pure Reason • An interesting interpretation of the role of conceptual illusion in Kant

Acknowledgements; Note on references and translations; Introduction; Part I. Kant’s Discovery of Metaphysical Illusion: 1. Metaphysical error in the pre-critical works; 2. The Inaugural Dissertation; Part II. Fallacies and Illusions in the Critique of Pure Reason: 3. The transcendental employment of the understanding and the conflation of appearances and things in themselves; 4. Transcendental illusion; Part III. The Dialectical Influences of Pure Reason: 5. Rational psychology and the pseudo-rational idea of the soul; 6. Rational cosmology and the pseudo-empirical idea of the world; 7. Rational theology and the pseudo-rational idea of God; Part IV. Illusion and Systematicity: 8. The regulative employment of reason; Conclusion; Selected bibliography; Index.