Kant on Freedom and Spontaneity

Spontaneity - understood as an action of the mind or will that is not determined by a prior external stimulus - is a theme that resonates throughout Immanuel Kant's theoretical and practical philosophy. Though spontaneity and the concomitant notion of freedom lie at the foundation of many of Kant's most pivotal theses and arguments regarding cognition, judgment, and moral action, spontaneity and freedom themselves often remain cloaked in mystery, or accessible only via transcendental argument. This volume brings together a distinguished group of scholars who explore the nature of freedom and spontaneity, the arguments Kant offers surrounding these concepts, and their place in Kant's larger philosophical system. The collection will be of interest to scholars interested in any aspect of Kant's philosophy, especially those who hope to gain a deeper insight into these fundamental Kantian ideas.

Introduction Kate A. Moran; Part I. Spontaneity: Pure Concepts of the Understanding, Imagination, and Judgment: 1. Kant on imagination and object constitution Rolf-Peter Horstmann; 2. Pure understanding, the categories, and Kant's critique of Wolff Brian A. Chance; 3. Transcendental idealism in the B-Deduction Michael Rohlf; 4. Kant's a priori principle of judgments of taste Jennifer Dobe; Part II. The Inner Value of the World: Freedom as the Keystone of Kant's Moral Philosophy: 5. Guyer on the value of freedom Patricia Kitcher; 6. Kant, Guyer and Tomasello on the capacity to recognize the humanity of others Lucas Thorpe; 7. Does Kantian constructivism rest on a mistake? Julian Wuerth; 8. Moral realism and the inner value of the world Frederick Rauscher; Part III. Freedom as Autonomous Willing: Kant's Sensible Agent: 9. On the many senses of 'self-determination' Karl Ameriks; 10. Inclination, need, and moral misery Kate Moran; 11. Religion and the highest good: speaking to the heart of even the best of us Barbara Herman; Part IV. Freedom on a Bounded Sphere: Kant's Political Philosophy: 12. Right and ethics: a critical tribute to Paul Guyer Allen Wood; 13. From justice to fairness: does Kant's Doctrine of Right imply a theory of distributive justice? Michael Nance and Jeppe von Platz; Postscript: nature and freedom in Kant's practical philosophy Paul Guyer.

Kate A. Moran is associate professor at Brandeis University, Massachusetts. She is the author of Community and Progress in Kant's Moral Philosophy (2012) and a number of essays on Kant's moral and political philosophy.