What is a "thing-in-itself" in philosophy? The "thing in itself" according to Kant

What is a "thing-in-itself" (Ding an sich)? This term in philosophy denotes the being of things in themselves, not concerning their knowledge, that is, whatever they are known. To understand what Kant was saying, one must take into account that the concept of "thing-in-itself" has several meanings and includes two basic meanings. First of all, it means that the objects of knowledge exist in themselves, apart from the logical and sensory forms by which they are perceived by our consciousness.

In this sense, the "thing-in-itself" according to Kant means that any expansion and deepening of knowledge is the cognition of only phenomena, and not of things themselves. This is due to the fact that it occurs in subjective forms of reason and sensuality. For this reason, Kant believes that even mathematics, which is an exact science, does not reflect objective reality, therefore it is reliable only for us, because it is perceived with the inherent a priori forms of reason and sensuality.

Knowledge in the opinion of Kant

What is a "thing-in-itself" for Kant? This is the time and space that underlies the precision of mathematics, arithmetic and geometry. These are not forms of existence of things directly, but forms of our sensuality that do not require proof. At the same time, causality, substance and interaction are not objects of things, they are only a priori forms of our understanding. The concept of science in principle does not copy the properties of objects, it refers to the category of things imposed by the mind on "material". Kant believes that the properties discovered by science do not depend on the randomness of each particular subject, but it can not be said that the laws that are learned by science are independent of consciousness.

Limited and unlimited knowledge of Kant

The ability to cognize can be both limited and unlimited. Kant says that empirical science has no limits for its further deepening and expansion. Observing and analyzing the phenomena, we penetrate into the depths of nature, and it is not known how far it is possible to advance with time.

And yet, science, according to Kant, may be limited. In this case, it is meant that, with any deepening and expansion, scientific knowledge can not go beyond the limits of logical forms by which an objective cognition of reality takes place. That is, even if we manage to fully study natural phenomena, we will never be able to answer questions that are beyond nature.

Unknowability of "things in themselves"

"Thing in itself" is, in fact, the same agnosticism. Kant suggested that in his teaching of the a priori forms of reason and sensuality he managed to overcome Hume's skepticism and the ancient skeptics, but in reality his concept of objectivity is ambiguous and ambiguous. What, in Kant's opinion, is "objective", in fact completely reduces to universality and necessity, which he understands as a priori definition of sensuality and reason. As a result, the ultimate source of "objectivity" is the same subject, and not actually the external world, which is reflected in the abstractions of mental cognition.

"Thing in itself" in philosophy

The significance of the concept of "thing-in-itself" explained above is applied by Kant only when trying to explain the possibility of exact mathematical and natural scientific knowledge. But in justifying the idea of their philosophy and ethics, it acquires a somewhat different meaning. So what is the "thing-in-itself" in Kant's philosophy? In this case, we mean the special objects of the intelligible world-the freedom to define human actions, immortality and God as the supernatural cause and truth of the world. The principles of Kant's ethics also boiled down to precisely this understanding of "things-in-themselves."

The philosopher recognized that a person inherent in the ineradicability of evil and the contradictions of public life, due to them. And while he was convinced that in the soul a man craves a harmonious state between the moral mentality and behavior. And, according to Kant, this harmony can be achieved not in the empirical, but in the intelligible world. It is to ensure the moral order of the world that Kant seeks to understand what a "thing-in-itself" is. He attributes the world of "phenomena" to nature and its phenomena as an object of scientific knowledge, and to the world of "things-in-themselves" - immortality, freedom and God.

Basic unknowability

As already noted, the "thing-in-itself" Kant proclaims the unknowable, and its unknowability is no longer temporary and relative, but principled, irresistible by any philosophical knowledge and progress. God is such an unknowable "thing in itself." Its existence can neither be confirmed nor refuted. The existence of God is the postulate of the mind. A person recognizes that God is based not on logical evidence, but on the categorical dictates of moral consciousness. It turns out that in this case Kant criticizes the mind in order to establish and strengthen the faith. The limitations that he applies to the theoretical mind are those limitations that must stop not only science, but also the practice of faith. Faith must be beyond these boundaries and become invulnerable.

Kant's form of idealism

To transfer the solution of conflicts and contradictions - socio-historical and ethical - into an intelligible world, it was necessary to apply an idealistic interpretation of the main concepts of theoretical philosophy. Kant was an idealist in philosophy and ethics, but not because his theory of knowledge was idealistic. But rather, on the contrary, the theory was idealistic, because the philosophy of history and ethics turned out to be idealistic. The German reality of the times of Kant completely denied the possibility of solving real contradictions in the life of society in practice and the probability of their adequate reflection in theoretical thought.

For this reason, Kant's philosophical outlook has developed in the traditional channel of idealism under the influence of Hume, on the one hand, and Leibniz and Wolff on the other. The contradiction of these traditions and an attempt to analyze their interaction is reflected in Kant's teachings about the boundaries and forms of authentic knowledge.