Xi Luo

The aim of this research is to explore what relations self-affection bears to the intuitions of inner sense. I propose that self-affection makes some contribution to formal intuitions and empirical consciousness by arguing that the functions of self-affection consist respectively in conceptualising and conscious-making. I begin by examining Kant’s concept of inner sense and point out that inner sense as a receptive faculty depends on self-affection. In so doing, I emphasise that self-affection includes both a pure and an empirical aspect which corresponds to Kant’s distinction between the transcendental synthesis of imagination and the empirical synthesis of apprehension. Then, I focus on the pure aspect and argue that the conceptualising function involved in the pure self-affection is decisive for the generation of formal intuition. In particular, I explain why the formal intuition of time depends on the intuition of space and how it is constituted by drawing a line. After that, I turn to analysing the empirical aspect of self-affection and show that by virtue of the empirical synthesis of apprehension one is aware of both the empirical contents of representations and the mental actions performed on them, whereby I suggest that this empirical conscious-making function can be understood as an act of distinguishing from a mereological point of view.

Die leitende Frage im vorliegenden Buch lautet: Was ist das Selbstbewusstsein bei Kant? Es ist das Ziel von Xi Luo, die Frage nach der Beschaffenheit des Selbstbewusstseins im Rahmen von Kants theoretischer Philosophie systematisch zu rekonstruieren. Anhand des Deduktion-Kapitels und des Paralogismus-Kapitels der Kritik der reinen Vernunft behandelt der Autor drei zentrale Aspekte des Selbstbewusstseins: Identität, Einheit und Existenz. Aufgrund einer textnahen Rekonstruktion von den Kantischen Argumenten gelangt der Autor zum Ergebnis, dass das reine Selbstbewusstsein das Bewusstsein vom identischen Ich, das Bewusstsein vom vereinheitlichenden Ich und das Bewusstsein von der Existenz des transzendentalen Ich ist.