Abstract

One could say that the central aim of Brittan’s study of Kant’s philosophy of mathematics and physics is to place that philosophy within the historical context of modern attempts to "justify," or in other terms, to give "epistemological foundations," to the mathematical sciences. In Brittan’s account, it was Kant’s unique achievement to expose the error of "reductionism" committed by all such attempts, and to give philosophical reflection on the exact sciences another direction which, with some modifications, is still fruitful today. With the help of Kant, Brittan would expose the problems of the scientific thought not only of early modern metaphysicians and empiricists, but of contemporary logicians and philosophical analysts, who perpetuate the reductionist error.