For Kant, to understand something is to be awed by its beauty.
As a response to Hume’s skepticism, Kant’s work provides theoretical foundations for modern science. While the better known Critique of Pure Reason does show the conditions for the possibility of knowledge, only Kant’s Third Critique, The Critique of Judgment, accounts both for experience and for actual scientific knowledge of the world. The third Critique shows the vital connection between Pure Reason, Practical Reason and our lives through the elaboration of a third transcendental faculty which is not knowledge but feeling—the pleasure we take in the experience of beauty.
Join us Fridays, April 13 and 20, at 5pm in Hagerty 159 for discussion of Kant’s Third Critique. No preparation is expected, but participants may choose to consult some of the following in advance: