The basic link between Kant’s metaphysics of free will and his theory of practical agency is his theory of teleology, i. e., his theory of ends or purposes. In the first part of his essay “Freedom, Teleology, and Rational Causation,” Robert Hanna show how Kant’s theory of natural teleology, or the directedness of organismic life—biological … [continue reading]
Category: Not An Edgy Essay
The Algebraic Shadow of Change: On the Philosophical Failure of Distribution Theory, #2.
(Robinson, 2014) TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Introduction 2. Distribution Theory 3. The Distributional Derivative: A Formal Trick 4. Pathologies and the Limits of Generalization 5. Constructivist and Finitist Concerns 6. Conclusion The essay below is being published in two installments; this one, the second and final installment, contains sections 4-6. But you can also download … [continue reading]
Sensibility First: How to Interpret Kant’s Theoretical and Practical Philosophy–A Podcast.
Schulting, D. (ed.), Kantian Nonconceptualism. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016. In the practical realm just as in the theoretical realm, everything comes down to human sensibility as an equally empirical and non-empirical primitive starting point that constitutively motivates, intentionally pervades, and intentionally structures our innately-specified yet also “human, all-too-human” capacities for theoretical and practical rationality, all … [continue reading]
The Algebraic Shadow of Change: On the Philosophical Failure of Distribution Theory, #1.
(Robinson, 2014) TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Introduction 2. Distribution Theory 3. The Distributional Derivative: A Formal Trick 4. Pathologies and the Limits of Generalization 5. Constructivist and Finitist Concerns 6. Conclusion The essay below will be published in two installments; this one, the first, contains sections 1-3. But you can also download and read or … [continue reading]
Nostalgia and Memory.
(Crutcher, 2022) You can also download and read or share a .pdf of the complete text of this essay by scrolling down to the bottom of this post and clicking on the Download icon. Nostalgia and Memory And somewhere on the hillInside the past we hear the bellsCatching only parts of thoughtsAnd fragments of ourselvesTill … [continue reading]
The Falling Dominoes of the Principle of Proof by Mathematical Induction, #3.
(Wikipedia, 2025) TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Introduction 2. The Definition of Mathematical Induction 3. Wang’s Paradox and the Predicate “Small” 4. Edward Nelson’s Critique of Mathematical Induction 5. Mathematical Induction Meets Gödel’s Incompleteness Theorems 6. Omega-Consistency and Its Role in Gödel’s Theorems 7. A Foundational Skepticism about Mathematical Induction 8. A Foundational Skepticism about Mathematical … [continue reading]
Kant’s B Deduction, Cognitive Organicism, the Limits of Natural Science, and the Autonomy of Consciousness: A Podcast.
Schulting, D. (ed.), Kantian Nonconceptualism. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016. Robert Hanna’s “Kant’s B Deduction, Cognitive Organicism, the Limits of Natural Science” explores the complexities of Kant’s B Deduction, proposing a “Bounded Scope Reading” where Categories apply exclusively to objects of experience, rather than the broader “Unbounded Scope Reading” that includes all objects of the senses. … [continue reading]
The Falling Dominoes of the Principle of Proof by Mathematical Induction, #2.
(Wikipedia, 2025) TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Introduction 2. The Definition of Mathematical Induction 3. Wang’s Paradox and the Predicate “Small” 4. Edward Nelson’s Critique of Mathematical Induction 5. Mathematical Induction Meets Gödel’s Incompleteness Theorems 6. Omega-Consistency and Its Role in Gödel’s Theorems 7. A Foundational Skepticism about Mathematical Induction 8. A Foundational Skepticism about Mathematical … [continue reading]
Everybody is Already Here: A Neo-Kantian Solution to the Fermi Paradox.
(Britannica, 2025) You can also download and read or share a .pdf of the complete text of this essay by scrolling down to the bottom of this post and clicking on the Download tab. Everybody is Already Here: A Neo-Kantian Solution to the Fermi Paradox According to a weak version of Immanuel Kant’s doctrine of … [continue reading]
The Falling Dominoes of the Principle of Proof by Mathematical Induction, #1.
(Wikipedia, 2025) TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Introduction 2. The Definition of Mathematical Induction 3. Wang’s Paradox and the Predicate “Small” 4. Edward Nelson’s Critique of Mathematical Induction 5. Mathematical Induction Meets Gödel’s Incompleteness Theorems 6. Omega-Consistency and Its Role in Gödel’s Theorems 7. A Foundational Skepticism about Mathematical Induction 8. A Foundational Skepticism about Mathematical … [continue reading]