Jacobi's objection in the 'David Hume' appendix (1787) establishes that one cannot enter Kant's system without presupposing things in themselves cause representations, yet cannot remain in it while doing so.

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Reasons For

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Reason for

1.Kant's transcendental idealism requires an external cause (things-in-themselves) to explain why representations have the specific content they do.
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2.Once admitted, the causal claim 'things-in-themselves affect us' violates Kant's own principle that causality applies only within phenomenal experience.
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3.Jacobi correctly identifies that Kant needs but cannot justify the bridge between noumena and phenomena without self-contradiction.
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Reasons Against

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Reason against

1.Kant distinguishes between logical presupposition and transcendental condition; affirming things-in-themselves isn't a causal claim within experience.
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2.Jacobi conflates the epistemic question (how we know things-in-themselves) with the metaphysical question (whether they exist), missing Kant's solution.
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3.Kant can consistently posit things-in-themselves as limiting concepts without claiming we cognize their causal operations on our representations.
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Key Terms

David Hume (1787 appendix)(as the title of the text where this objection appears): A famous Scottish philosopher from the 1700s; Jacobi wrote an appendix about Hume's ideas as part of his critique of Kant's philosophy.
Jacobi, Friedrich Heinrich(as the philosopher making the objection): An 18th-century German philosopher who criticized other philosophers' ideas, particularly Kant's system, by pointing out logical problems he thought they couldn't solve.
Kant's system(as the philosophical framework under discussion): The complete set of connected ideas that Kant developed about knowledge, reality, and how human thinking works.
Kant, Immanuel(as an example of a pre-statistical thinker): An 18th-century German philosopher who explored how the human mind shapes what we can know and how we understand reality.
Presupposing(what the externalist secretly assumes in their reasoning): To assume something is already true without proving it, usually without realizing you're doing it.
Representations(as used in epistemology and philosophy of mind): Mental images, ideas, or thoughts that stand in for things in the world—essentially, how your mind depicts or understands reality.
enter...without presupposing / remain in it while doing so(as the paradox Jacobi identifies): Jacobi's point that you need to assume something false just to get into Kant's theory, but that same assumption breaks the theory once you're inside it—a logical trap.
things in themselves(Kant's critical system): Entities posited as existing independently of human representation, distinct from appearances

Connections

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Truth & Knowledge1 linked Skepticism1 linked

Jacobi conflates the epistemic question (how we know things-in-themselves) with ...Jacobi correctly identifies that Kant needs but cannot justify the bridge betwee...

Details

Type: claim
Perspectives: 2 (1 for, 1 against)
Edits: 1 edit