Tyler (via Ken Feinstein) says I should raise my opinion of Kant. After reading this paragraph, I can only say: Done!
The usual touchstone of whether what someone asserts is mere persuasion
or at least a subjective conviction, i.e., firm belief, is betting.
Often someone pronounces his propositions with such confident and
inflexible defiance that he seems to have entirely laid aside all
concern for error. A bet disconcerts him. Sometimes he reveals that he
is persuaded enough for one ducat but not for ten. For he would happily
bet one, but at ten he suddenly becomes aware of what he had not
previously noticed, namely that it is quite possible that he has erred.
– Critique of Pure Reason, (A824/B852)
Still, let us not forget the many reasons to hold a low opinion of Kant – not least of which is his low opinion of the great Thomas Reid.
READER COMMENTS
Hyena
Jan 8 2011 at 4:34pm
These criticisms are pretty weak sauce and kind of require that we read Kant a certain, really hostile way. There’s also a serious extent to which the author leans on wit rather than argument (his “California and New York” argument is a good example).
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