The main purpose of this essay is to examine Brentano's rejection of Kant's theory of a priori concepts and synthetic a priori judgments. The essay begins by recalling the views of Descartes and Locke about the acquisition of knowledge, since Brentano regards them as on the whole correct or, at least, as pointing in the right direction and since he regards Kant's epistemology as obscurantist and reactionary (Section 1). There follows a brief characterization of Brentano's conception of knowledge as based (...) on self-evident inner perception and analytic propositions, i.e. propositions which are true ex terminis (Section 2). Next some aspects of Kant's epistemology are compared with corresponding features of Brentano's doctrine (Section 3). In the light of this comparison the validity of Brentano's criticisms is examined (Section 4). In conclusion an independent view of the function of concepts and of their relation to perception is briefly outlined and contrasted with the views of Kant and Brentano (Section 5). (shrink)

Nach einem kurzen, kritischen Bericht über die Gründe, die Brentano zur Ablehnung der mathematischen Logik bewogen, wird gezeigt, daß seine (spätere) Analyse der logischen Urteilsformen sich in einem finiten Untersystem der exakten Prädikatenlogik interpretieren läßt. Es wird sodann ausgeführt, daß dieses logische System auch zur Formulierung seiner Relationstheorie geeignet ist - sofern man von der Kontinualrelation absieht. Dieser wird aber durch eine Erweiterung der Prädikatenlogik durch inexakte Prädikate genügegetan. Schließlich wird erklärt, wie Brentanos Auffassung der logischen Modalitäten als Urteilsmodi in (...) diesem logischen System ausgedrückt werden kann. Eine kurze Nachbemerkung gilt dem Verständnis zwischen Brentanos Ontologie und der von ihr angeregten logischen Theorie. (shrink)

Hauptthema des Aufsatzes sind philosophische Methoden und Argumente, welche der Begründung allgemeingültiger, philosophischer Prinzipien dienen sollen. Es wird gezeigt, daß die Cartesianische Methode des Zweifels, die transzendentale Methode Kants und die phänomenologische Methode Husserls diese Aufgabe nicht erfüllen, daß sie aber, wenn man von ihren Ausschließlichkeitsansprüchen absieht, wichtige Einsichten enthalten. Selbst die sogenannte "wissenschaftliche" und die sogenannte "linguistische" Methode erweisen sich trotz ihrer Zirkularität als nicht völlig wertlos. Der Aufsatz schließt mit einigen Bemerkungen über Argumentationsweisen, welche bescheidenere Ziele verfolgen und (...) erreichen können. (shrink)

In this paper the author argues that empiricist ethical theories are not open to a number of objections which have often been supposed to be fatal to them. He argues, Firstly, That empiricist ethical theories do not necessarily commit the "naturalistic fallacy". He argues, Secondly, That moral judgments would have, If empiricism is true, A "pseudo a priority" which might satisfy the demands of those who think that they are genuinely a priori. He argues, Thirdly, That, Though moral judgments cannot (...) be necessary, If empiricism is true, It can nevertheless be "necessary that we have the moral attitudes we do". (shrink)

Among A. J. Ayer's many influential contributions to philosophy are the accounts of the nature of metaphysics which he propounded at various stages of his philosophical development. Whereas his early position is a clear version of the antimetaphysical attitude of the Viennese circle and, more generally, of logical positivism, his later position is, as he generously emphasized, in some crucial respects indebted to Peirce's pragmatism and to Ramsey's analysis of the structure of theories. His later views on the nature of (...) metaphysics are contained in his book Central Questions of Philosophy and in his reply to my criticisms in a Festschrift , published on the occasion of his retirement from the Wykeham Chair of Philosophy at Oxford University . Although in this reply he describes his later account of metaphysics as ‘much too perfunctory’, it does constitute an important attempt at answering one of the central questions of philosophy. (shrink)

This book covers a wide spectrum of connected topics in the field of practical and moral thinking. It contains papers and discussions on the logic of practical reasoning and moral obligation; on the decision-theoretical approach to morality; on the relation between practical and theoretical reason; and on the political aspects of morality. The contributors are, for the most part, well-known philosophers who have not been content with merely restating their positions, but have sued this as a forum for proposing new (...) ideas. The value of the collection lies not only in the originality of the contributions on the various topics mentioned but equally in its demonstration of the interrelations among these topics. (shrink)

The Reply to Dr. Rolfs essay makes the following main points: (1) The logic of inexactness has the same syntax as Kleene's three-valued logic. Its semantics is different in that the third truth-value can by choice be correctly turned into either truth or falsehood. (2) The definition of resemblance classes includes, but is not exhausted by, ostensive rules. (3) The application of classical mathematics to sense-experience consists in the limited identification of non-isomorphic structures. (4) There are exact perceptual and vague (...) mathematical concepts. (5) The distinction between my categorial framework, a categorial framework and the true categorial framework, if any, is neither relativistic nor absolutistic. (shrink)

The following topics are touched upon: the nature of categorial frameworks; the failure of transcendental deductions; the difference between immanent and transcendent metaphysics; a distinction between dependent and independent particulars; the role of idealization in scientific thinking; the logic of inexact concepts; the place of modal logic in immanent metaphysics; the problem of logical relevance; the role of metaphysics in mathemathical thinking; the development of mathematical concepts; the relation be ween exhibition- and replacement-analysis; the logical structure of practical thinking; the (...) possibility of rational argument on moral issues. (shrink)

Thinking is often thought of as a kind of connecting—in the sense of searching for pre-existent connections and exhibiting what has been found; in the sense of making connections and exhibiting what has been made; or in some third sense which combines the former with the latter in some way. In explicitly or implicitly employing certain methods in one’s thinking one ipso facto uses so-called “categories,” i.e., concepts of high generality, characterizing aspects of whatever exists or can be thought. Aristotle, (...) who conceived of thinking mainly as finding, Kant, who conceived of it mainly as making and some of their successors set themselves the task of listing, clarifying and justifying a set of categories, which in each case was judged by the philosopher who propounded it to be uniquely necessary and thus absolutely preferable to any competing set. (shrink)

Stephan Körner; X*—On The Logic Of Relations, Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, Volume 77, Issue 1, 1 June 1977, Pages 149–164, https://doi.org/10.1093/a.