Cassirer and the Kantian Thing in Itself

H. PRINGE

Jornada; Ernst Cassirer and the Phenomenological Tradition; 2023

In this talk I will analyze Cassirer’s account of the Kantian thing in itself in order to show how this reduction of the given is to be conceived. Cassirer distinguishes three different moments in the development of this concept, that correspond to the three main parts of the critical investigation: the transcendental aesthetic, the transcendental analytic and the transcendental dialectic. The concept of the thing in itself acquires a certain meaning in the framework of the analysis of sensibility, a different one in the discussion of the understanding and finally a third one in the study of the principles of reason. In each case, a peculiar aspect of the freedom of thought is highlighted.