The influence of Kant’s critical philosophy on Logical Positivism

Abstract

This paper attempts to show the influence of Kant’s critical philosophy on Logical Positivism. In order to achieve this objective, we set out in the first half to examine Kant’s analysis of the nature, limits and conditions of our knowing process. Having established Kant’s position, the burden of the second half is precisely to explore and explicate the relationship between his system and the Logical Positivists. Most studies on the Positivists do not deal with the possibility of an influence exercised by Kant’s transcendental strategy. The more general reason has to do with the mistaken belief that a philosophical theory can be separated from the intellectual culture in which it is articulated. It has become fashionable to evaluate a philosophical position without taking into account either the roots of the idea in the history of philosophy or the way in which the position emerges within a system of thought. This is one reason why the most intriguing part of the twentieth century philosophy has not been understood – not enough attention has been paid to the indebtedness of the Positivists to the Kantian tradition. This work tries to correct the inadequacy of these studies by demonstrating that Kant indeed leaves a lasting influence on the Logical Positivists’ philosophy.