Kant's Proof of the Existence of the Outer World

History of Philosophy & Logical Analysis 25 (1):163–189 (2021)
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Abstract

In this paper I propose a novel interpretation of Kant’s proof of the existence of the outer world in the Refutation of Idealism. According to this interpretation, Kant’s proof does not provide a regressive explanation of our capacity to determine the temporal order of our experiences. Rather, it expresses a counterfactual reflection on what it takes for something to be actual in contrast to being merely imagined. On the ground of this reflection, Kant argues against the Cartesian sceptic that, even if all our representations of empirical objects other than ourselves failed to be veridical, we would still know a priori that in every situation in which we, as thinking things, actually exist, something outside us in space must necessarily exist.

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Bianca Ancillotti
Universität Leipzig

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References found in this work

Naming and Necessity.Saul Kripke - 1980 - Critica 17 (49):69-71.
Transcendental arguments.Barry Stroud - 1968 - Journal of Philosophy 65 (9):241-256.
Kant's Analytic.Jonathan Bennett - 1968 - Philosophy 43 (165):295-298.
Causal refutations of idealism.Andrew Chignell - 2010 - Philosophical Quarterly 60 (240):487-507.

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