The Philosophy Of Right And Left : Incongruent Counterparts and the Nature of Space / edited by J. van Cleve, R.E Frederick.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

van Cleve, J., Editor.

Frederick, R.E., Editor.

Series:

The Western Ontario Series in Philosophy of Science, A Series of Books in Philosophy of Science, Methodology, Epistemology, Logic, History of Science, and Related Fields, 2215-1974 ; 46

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Science--Philosophy.

Science.

Metaphysics.

Philosophy of Science.

Local Subjects:

Philosophy of Science.

Metaphysics.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (X, 373 p.)

Edition:

1st ed. 1991.

Place of Publication:

Dordrecht : Springer Netherlands : Imprint: Springer, 1991.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Incongruent counterparts are objects that are perfectly similar except for being mirror images of each other, such as left and right human hands. Immanuel Kant was the first great thinker to point out the philosophical significance of such objects. He called them "counter­ parts" because they are similar in nearly every way, "incongruent" because, despite their similarity, one could never be put in the place of the other. Three important discussions of incongruent counterparts occur in Kant's writings. The first is an article published in 1768, 'On the First Ground of the Distinction of Regions in Space', in which Kant con­ tended that incongruent counterparts furnish a refutation of Leibniz's relational theory of space and a proof of Newton's rival theory of absolute space. The second is a section of his Inaugural Dissertation, published two years later in 1770, in which he cited incongruent counterparts as showing that our knowledge of space must rest on intuitions. The third is a section of the Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics of 1783, in which he cited incongruent counterparts as a paradox resolvable only by his own theory of space as mind-dependent. A fourth mention in the Metaphysical Foundations of Natural Science of 1786 briefly repeats the Prolegomena point. Curiously, there is no mention of incongruent counterparts in either of the editions (1781 and 1787) of Kant's magnum opus, the Critique of Pure Reason.

Contents:

To The Argument Of 1768

To The Arguments Of 1770 And 1783

On The First Ground Of The Distinction Of Regions In Space (1768)

Selection From Section 15 Of Dissertation On The Form And Principles Of The Sensible And Intelligible World (1770)

Selection From The Prolegomena To Any Future Metaphysics (1783)

On Higher Space

The Paradox Of Incongruous Counterparts

Tractatus 6.36111

Incongruent Counterparts And Absolute Space

The Fourth Dimension

The Ozma Problem And The Fall Of Parity

The Difference Between Right And Left

Kant Incongruous Counterparts, And The Nature Of Space And Space-Time

Hands, Knees, And Absolute Space

Incongruous Counterparts, Intrinsic Features, And The Substantiviality Of Space

Incongruent Counterparts

Showing And Telling: Can The Difference Between Right And Left Be Explained In Words?

Right, Left, And The Fourth Dimension

On the Other Hand...: A Reconsideration of Kant, Incongruent Counterparts, and Absolute Space

Replies To Sklar And Earman

Kant On Incongruent Counterparts

The Role of Incongruent Counterparts in Kant’s Transcendental Idealism

Incongruent Counterparts And Things In Themselves

Contemporary Contributors.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

ISBN:

94-011-3736-6