"On Kant's Conception of Pure Intuition: How Pure Intuitions are both Grounds of, and Dependent on, Empirical Intuitions"
ABSTRACT: Kant’s claim that our pure forms of intuition, those of space and time, ground all our empirical intuition is among the most famous pieces of transcendental philosophy. In this talk, I will argue that Kant’s conception of intuition further envisages a much less appreciated dependency of pure intuitions on empirical ones. Pure intuitions, I suggest, are to be understood as a special kind of empirical intuitions. I will present textual arguments to support my claim that pure intuitions depend for their relationship to objects on empirical ones, and I will further undermine some alternative interpretations of the relationship between empirical and pure intuitions. I will conclude by sketching the relevant consequences of my view for an interpretation of Kant’s conception of mathematics and, more specifically, arithmetic.
