This paper asks how we find our way in the hitherto unknown. In search of an answer, the author returns to the three Critiques of Immanuel Kant, noting especially their grounding in the geometric mode of (re)presentation and the thingification processes connected therewith. It is argued that Kant's choice of metaphors in effect makes him more of a geographer than of a philosopher. To understand the taken-for-granted of thought-and-action, the time has therefore come for the writing of a fourth volume (...) entitled A Critique of Cartographical Reason. The focus must there be on the relations between personal pronouns and prepositions, on the one hand, and the powers of tautology, on the other. (shrink)

This paper asks how we find our way in the hitherto unknown. In search of an answer, the author returns to the three Critiques of Immanuel Kant, noting especially their grounding in the geometric mode of presentation and the thingification processes connected therewith. It is argued that Kant's choice of metaphors in effect makes him more of a geographer than of a philosopher. To understand the taken-for-granted of thought-and-action, the time has therefore come for the writing of a fourth volume (...) entitled A Critique of Cartographical Reason. The focus must there be on the relations between personal pronouns and prepositions, on the one hand, and the powers of tautology, on the other. (shrink)

This paper focuses on Kant's account of physical geography and his theory of the Earth. In spelling out the epistemological foundations of Kant's physical geography, the paper examines 1) their connection to the mode of holding-to-be-true, mathematical construction and empirical certainty and 2) their implications for Kant's view of cosmopolitan right. Moreover, by showing the role played by the mathematical model of the Earth for the foundations of Kant's Doctrine of Right, the exact relationship between the latter and physical geography (...) is highlighted. Finally, this paper shows how, in Kant's view, the progress of physical geography can be assured if and only if the free circulation of human beings is established and regulated by law. Therefore, examining the mutual relationship between the theory of Earth and the foundations of right opens new perspectives on the relationship between epistemology and practical philosophy within Kant's system. (shrink)

Late eighteenth-century writings on race by Kant and four of his contemporaries.

O presente texto visa explicitar o significado cosmopolita da filosofia de Immanuel Kant. Essa explanação passará pelas definições de ‘filosofia’, ‘filósofo’, ‘ensino’ e ‘filosofar’. Procurará mostrar que a própria constituição do conceito de filosofia ainda preserva a sua raiz grega de ‘amor à sabedoria’; que é necessário cultivar esse ‘amor à sabedoria’ para, a partir daí, aprender a raciocinar; que o filosofar possui um direcionamento prático que visa o esclarecimento, isto é, a emancipação da tutela alheia.

This paper (in Finnish) concerns the ontological status of categories of entities. I argue that categories are not be considered as further entities. Rather, it is suffcient for entities belonging to the same category that they are in exactly the same formal ontological relations and have the same general category features.

In this article I intend to explore one possible way of using place to rethink nature, the relationship between humans and nature, and the implications for education. The elucidation and discussion of the sense of place will reveal that there are profound and superficial or, placeful and placeless, senses of place. This paper examines the possibilities of thinking nature based on this particular sense of place. The profound sense of place, in the light of Jeff Malpas, Marcel Proust, and David (...) Henry Thoreau, can provoke in us an awareness of care about the place. If the nature can be sensed as placeful to individuals, as this paper will argue, it would be very possible for individuals to care about and be committed to the conservation of the nature. (shrink)

Neste artigo indicaremos que a proposição fundamental dos cursos de Geografia física de Kant é: o homem é habitante da Terra. Para validar essa tese, alinharemos a metodologia utilizada por Kant nos cursos de Antropologia e de Geografia física, a fim de evidenciar as convergências e divergências desses cursos. Além disso, também compararemos a metodologia empregada por Kant na História natural e na Geografia física, porque a distinção entre essas ciências nos permitirá ratificar a tese aqui defendida e delimitar os (...) critérios de validade da proposição acima indicada. Em Physische Geographie, Kant diferencia as proposições dessas disciplinas da seguinte maneira: as proposições geográficas se referem aos homens como habitantes da Terra, mas os investiga sem nenhuma perspectiva histórica, ou seja, os investiga no tempo presente. Ao contrário disso, as proposições naturalistas investigam os seres humanos em uma linha temporal sucessiva, a fim de demonstrar o que natureza fez deles. Dito isso, o problema central da história natural é demonstrar que os diferentes povos possuem uma origem comum e o problema central da geografia física é demonstrar de que maneira o habitat influencia no processo civilizador, moralizador, político e religioso dos diferentes povos. (shrink)