A Commentary to Kant's 'Critique of Pure Reason' — Kant — John Shaqi
A Commentary to Kant's 'Critique of Pure Reason'
Kant · en
KANT’S VIEWS REGARDING THE NATURE OF ARITHMETICAL SCIENCE
In the _Dissertation_, and again in the chapter on _Schematism_ in the
_Critique_ itself, still another view is suggested, namely, that the
science of arithmetic is also concerned with the intuition of time. The
passage just quoted from the _Dissertation_ proceeds as follows:
“Pure mathematics treats of space in geometry and of time in pure
mechanics. To these has to be added a certain concept which is in
itself intellectual, but which demands for its concrete
actualisation (_actuatio_) the auxiliary notions of time and space
(in the successive addition and in the juxtaposition of a
plurality). This is the concept of number which is dealt with in
_Arithmetic_.”[510]
This view of arithmetic is to be found in both editions of the
_Critique_. Arithmetic depends upon the synthetic activity of the
understanding; the conceptual element is absolutely essential.
“Our counting (as is easily seen in the case of large numbers) is a
synthesis according to concepts, because it is executed according
to a common ground of unity, as, for instance, the decade
(_Dekadik_).”[511] “The pure image ... of all objects of the senses
in general is time. But the pure _schema_ of quantity, in so far as
it is a concept of the understanding, is _number_, a representation
which combines the successive addition of one to one (homogeneous).
Thus number is nothing but the unity of the synthesis of the
manifold of a homogeneous intuition in general, whereby I generate
time itself in the apprehension of the intuition.”[512]
This is also the teaching of the _Methodology_.[513] Now it may be
observed that in none of these passages is arithmetic declared to be the
_science of time_, or even to be based on the intuition of time. In
1783, however, in the _Prolegomena_, Kant expresses himself in much more
ambiguous terms, for his words imply that there is a parallelism between
geometry and arithmetic.
“Geometry is based upon the pure intuition of space. Arithmetic
produces its concepts of number through successive addition of
units in time, and pure mechanics especially can produce its
concepts of motion only by means of the representation of
time.”[514]
The passage is by no means explicit; the “especially” (_vornehmlich_)
seems to indicate a feeling on Kant’s part that the description which he
is giving of arithmetic is not really satisfactory. Unfortunately this
casual statement, though never repeated by Kant in any of his other
writings, was developed by Schulze in his _Erläuterungen_.
“Since geometry has space and arithmetic has counting as its object
(and counting can only take place by means of time), it is evident
in what manner geometry and arithmetic, that is to say pure
mathematics, is possible.”[515]