Kant's Empirical Psychology

Abstract

Throughout his life, Kant was concerned with questions about empirical psychology. He aimed to develop an empirical account of human beings, and his lectures and writings on the topic are recognizable today as properly 'psychological' treatments of human thought and behavior. In this book Patrick R. Frierson uses close analysis of relevant texts, including unpublished lectures and notes, to study Kant's account. He shows in detail how Kant explains human action, choice, and thought in empirical terms, and how a better understanding of Kant's psychology can shed light on major concepts in his philosophy, including the moral law, moral responsibility, weakness of will, and cognitive error. Frierson also applies Kant's accounts of mental illness to contemporary philosophical issues. His book will interest students and scholars of Kant, the history of psychology, philosophy of psychology, and philosophy of action.

Commentary: Commentary: Beauty Requires Thought

“…Inclinations are acquired by experience. “In some cases (e.g., the sexual instinct; see Kant, 1775-1776, 25:584) one can feel an instinct without a direct cognition of the object of that instinct.” (Frierson, 2014) This strikingly coincides with the evidence Luoto provides concerning sexual stimuli (Ponseti and Bosinski, 2010; Gillath and Collins, 2016), facial beauty (Willis and Todorov, 2006) and the integration of visual information outside of consciousness (Mudrik et al, 2014; cf. Kant, 1798, 07:135f).…”

Consciousness as Inner Sensation: Crusius and Kant

“…In speaking of inner sensations and of the mental causal powers generating these sensations, I suggest a Kantian empirical psychology that goes beyond a "Humean bundle" theory of the empirical self (see Allison 2004;Dyck 2014;Wuerth 2014: Chapter 1). This is consonant with Kant's discussions of empirical psychology, where causal explanations involving the faculties or powers of the mind take center stage (see Frierson 2014). 54 Is this empirical psychology consistent with Kant's ardent denial of any attempt to prove the substantiality of the soul (e.g., in the Paralogisms)?…”

Kant on science and normativity

“…For a discussion of Kant's biological account of the human species and nature's purposes for it, see Cohen (2006). For a discussion of his psychological account of human beings, see Frierson (2014), Introduction. 8 LA 48 25:471.…”

“…For a detailed account of the distinction between pure and applied logic, see Lu-Adler (forthcoming). For a discussion of Kant's psychology in relation to his anthropology, see Wilson (2006) and Frierson (2014). 22 LL 533 9:18, CPR 195 A54-5/B78-9, MM 372 [6:217].…”