Part II, Paper 4 · European Philosophy from Kant

Kant: The resolution of the antinomies

What is the argumentative structure of Kant’s resolution to the antinomies of pure reason?

According to Kant, the antinomies arise both necessarily and due to “a natural and unavoidable illusion” of reason (A298/B354). How does Kant overcome this illusion? What is the structure of his argument? Is it a transcendental argument?

Essay of no more than 2,500 words.

Primary sources

• Kant, Immanuel: Critique of Pure Reason.A293/B349–A340/B398; A405/B432–A567/B595.

Secondary sources

• Allison, Henry E. 2004. Chapter 13: The Antinomy of Pure Reason, pp. 357–395 in Kant’s Transcendental Idealism: An Interpretation and Defense, 2nd ed. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. Publisher
• Bennett, Jonathan 1974. Chapter 7: Infinity, pp. 115–144 in Kant’s Dialectic. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI
• Gava, Gabriele 2019. Kant, the Third Antinomy and Transcendental Arguments. Pacific Philosophical Quarterly 100(3): 453–481. DOI
• Grier, Michelle 2006. Chapter 11: The Logic of Illusion and the Antinomies, pp. 192–206 in A Companion to Kant, ed. Graham Bird. Malden and Oxford: Blackwell. DOI

General introductions

• Gardner, Sebastian 1999. Routledge Philosophy Guidebook to Kant and the Critique of Pure Reason. London: Routledge.
• Guyer, Paul (ed.) 1992. The Cambridge Companion to Kant. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI
• Guyer, Paul (ed.) 2010. The Cambridge Companion to Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI