Die neue Auffassung der Metaphysik als reine Philosophie in der Inauguraldissertation und ihre propädeutische Bedeutung im Rahmen der Entwicklungsgeschichte der Kritik der reinen Vernunft

Abstract

In the Critique of Pure Reason Kant criticizes Baumgarten´s definition of Metaphysics as the science of the first principles of human knowledge (Metaphysica § 1). He maintains that this definition doesn´t consider the distinction between sensible and pure knowledge. Instead of this definition Kant provides a new one in the first Critique: Metaphysics is the system of pure Reason (A 841 / B 869). This Definition is first anticipated eleven years before in the Inaugural Dissertation, where Metaphysics is defined as pure Philosophy (MSI AA 2: 411). Kant presents this Dissertation as a proof of the propaedeutic which must precede Metaphysics and so anticipates the idea that will be fully accomplished with the Critique of Pure Reason. In this paper I will argue that the new definition of Metaphysics in the Inaugural Dissertation must be seen as the very important result of this text as a propaedeutic to Metaphysics and as a specific step in the development of the Critique of Pure Reason.