Kantian categories and forms of judgements: a linguistic approach
Abstract
This work is concerned to develop reasonable conceptual framework talk by linking Kant and Quine. The Kantian idea which I borrow is that our conceptual framework can be expressed through a list of "pure concepts" which is derived from a list of the forms of judgement. Arguing from a necessary connection between judgements and natural language, the thesis approaches forms of judgement through forms of language. Emphasizing the connection between judgements and language is a way of emphasizing the empirical strain in Kant, rendering acceptable a central doctrine of "The Transcendental Analytic". Nevertheless, this work is in no way intended to be an historically accurate interpretation of Kant. The thesis is set in a Kantian context simply to provide a convenient focus for discussion. My purposes are served if I can present a sound notion of ordering concepts in a conceptual framework by considering language as it is used for expressing judgements. I attempt to achieve this by developing an empirically oriented theory of judgements as mental acts. A linguistic model of the act of judging is presented and given some initial support by the conception of sense co-relates as related to a modified version of Hempelian observation predicates. Further characterization of judgements is given in a chapter devoted to second-order talk concerning important distinctions among judgements, sentences and propositions. The episodic nature of judgements is stressed. Another chapter provides an indication of what will count as an object of judgement, arguing that "objects of judgement" and "object of ontology" should be co-extensive expressions. The fundamental principle of ontological commitment is founded on sense co-relates. The final chapter elaborates on the analytic-synthetic distinction introduced in Chapter I. This distinction, working in conjunction with an introduced "a priorily-a posteriorily" distinction, is used as a means of sorting various "concept labels". Each group of "concept labels" is regarded as being headed up by an expression for one of the "pure concepts" or categories.
Description
Bibliography: p. 78-80.
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Citation
Chappell, D. (1976). Kantian categories and forms of judgements: a linguistic approach (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/12616