Kant on Proper Science

This book provides a novel treatment of the relation between Immanuel Kant s views on proper natural science and his philosophy of biology. Combining a broad ideengeschichtlich approach with a detailed historical reconstruction of philosophical and scientific texts, the book establishes important interconnections between Kant s conception of proper science, his views on biology, and his reception of late 18th century biological theories. The work provides analysis of Kant s views on science and biology articulated in his critical period, taking into account published works and the lectures on logic and physics, and in the Opus postumum. §Kant s views on physics have traditionally received a lot of attention. More recently, research on Kant s philosophy of biology has steadily increased. The status of biology in Kant s system of science is often taken to be problematic, insofar as it is thought that Kant rejects biology as unscientific. By analyzing Kant s views on proper science in relation to his philosophy of biology, the present book aims to determine to what extent biology conforms to his prescriptions on proper science. It is argued that there is considerable continuity between Kant s views on proper science and his views on biological method. §In particular, although biology is a non-mathematical science and the relation between biology and physics is not specified, Kant developed a uniform conception of proper scientific explanation and showed how proper explanations can be given in biology. In addition, he highlighted the use of teleological principles specific to biology and showed how biology can be taken to have a distinct domain of investigation. Finally, Kant construed biology as a part of a systematic physics grounded in other disciplines of physics. As such, Kant provided an initial framework for conceiving of biology as a proper science, even if this idea was only fully developed in the 19th century.