Current Feature

The Concepts of Immanuel Kant's Natural Philosophy

The crucial significance of Kant's natural philosophy for his critical philosophy is well known to philosophers. Historians of science regard his theory of the solar system as well as that of the organism as landmarks of early-modern science. His natural philosophy is, furthermore, an extremely illuminating mirror image of the sciences of his age when considered as a whole, that is, when the explicit and implicit networks among its concepts are realized. The realization of these networks is a challenge with respect to both the historical work required and the form in which they are most adequately rendered. Employing the advantages of the electronic medium in an innovative manner, the database KANTS NATURTHEORETISCHE BEGRIFFE, constructed by Wolfgang Lefèvre and Falk Wunderlich, is not an index but rather a means of representation and at the same time a research tool. It allows the multifarious interrelations among Kant's concepts to be traced against the background of the sciences of his age. By Wolfgang Lefèvre. more