Abstract

The aim of this article is to examine the theory of “self-affection” in the Transcendental Deduction of the Categories in the second edition of Kant's Critique of Pure Reason. I propose that the self-affection, identified with transcendental synthesis of imagination, should be considered as a condition of all reception of the manifold of intuition in the spatio-temporal order. In other words, spontaneity of the subject is required for the reception of materials for cognition. Analyzing some interpretations on Kant's notions such as temporality, inner sense and synthesis, I try to show the necessity to avoid supposing materials that would be given independently of spontaneity and regarded as antecedent conditions of self-affection.