Q&A: Kant and the Human Spirit
Kant and the Human Spirit
Question
I wanted to ask the Rabbi about Kant’s argument in the Transcendental Aesthetic that human cognition does not reflect things in themselves, but only the form they take as shaped by the intellect. But the thing as it is in itself cannot be attained by cognition. Has this argument been refuted?
I heard that Einstein refuted this argument. But I wanted to know whether his argument is based on empirical data, which cannot really refute the argument mentioned above. Since cognition does not reflect an objective reality in which contradictions cannot exist, there would be no problem with contradictions existing only in phenomenal cognition. Or does Einstein’s argument actually succeed in refuting Kant’s argument for some reason? And perhaps there is some other refutation of his arguments.
Answer
I do not know why you are connecting this specifically to aesthetics. This is Kant’s epistemology across all domains. I am not familiar with any refutation by Einstein of this claim of Kant’s, and I am fairly sure there is no such thing. It may be that some people think, for some reason, that Einstein’s scientific theory refutes Kant, but in my opinion they are mistaken.
I am currently writing columns dealing with this topic (with no connection to Einstein), and I hope that there you will find a good survey of the issue.
It is indeed epistemology, but the first part of the Critique of Pure Reason is called the “Transcendental Aesthetic,” and it deals with space and time as forms of intuition. Of course, the intention is not some theory about beauty or art, but rather the a priori organization of sensory data. At first glance it is hard to see how Einstein refutes Kant. Looking forward to the columns on the subject:)