KANT`TA TRANSANDANTAL BEN BÎLÎNCİ

Authors : Sahabettin YALÇIN

Pages : 136-153

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Publication Date : 2004-07-01

Article Type : Other Papers

Abstract :This paper examines one of Kant`s most controversial concepts, namely the `transcendental apperception`. Kant introduces this notion primarily for epistemological reasons, as it plays a crucial role in the formation of knowledge. Although the transcendental apperception does not provide any substantial a priori knowledge about the nature of the thinking self - because we do not have any intuition of this self; Kant rejects the existence of intellectual or a priori intuition in human beings - it nevertheless yields pure a priori awareness of its existence and functions. This pure self-consciousness is neither an intuition nor even a concept, but rather an empty `thought`. The thinking self which is characterized by Kant as the formal or the logical subject of thought, functions as the source of the categories and a priori principles of experience. As I have tried to show in this paper, however, Kant`s notion of the transcendental apperception faces some serious problems which affect his theory of knowledge in general.
Keywords : Kant, Self, Transcendental, Knowledge