Michela Massimi: Metaphysics and perspectival knowledge. A Kantian tale

Colloquium lecture by Michela Massimi (University of Edinburgh), organized by the Department of Theoretical Philosophy

In this paper I return to Kant’s Appendix to the Transcendental Dialectic and his view of ideas of reason to flesh out a notion of  “perspectival knowledge” that I see as distinctively Kantian. I elucidate the role of ideas of reason as imaginary metaphysical standpoints that are nonetheless indispensably necessary for scientific knowledge. Finally I explain the current relevance of this Kantian notion for contemporary debates on realism and perspectivism in science.