Abstract
The main objective of this study is to analyze the Kantian ‘existence’ from the perspective of Wolf’s, Hume’s, and Islamic philosophers’ views on existence. Since Kant addresses ‘existence’ in Critique of Pure Reason in two positions, first ...
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Abstract
The main objective of this study is to analyze the Kantian ‘existence’ from the perspective of Wolf’s, Hume’s, and Islamic philosophers’ views on existence. Since Kant addresses ‘existence’ in Critique of Pure Reason in two positions, first in the transcendental analysis section in the ‘pure categories of understanding’, as a component of ‘direction’ category among the famous four categories, and again in transcendental dialectic in criticizing ontological argument, this paper aiming to provide a comprehensive and coherent explanation of these two positions, shows that Kant's transcendental dialectic, to avoid dogmatic idealism and skeptical idealism, appeals to the giveness of existence, influenced by Hume, to criticize the ontological argument, but in the transcendental analysis which is focused on our understanding of existence, considers, influenced by Wolf, existence as the degrees of our knowledge of propositions. Also establishing a basic equivalence between ‘the principality of existence in the transcendent philosophy’ and ‘the giveness of existence in Hume’s view’ and ‘the principality of quiddity and the abstractness of existence in Suhrawardi’s view’ and ‘its being subsidiary in Wolf’s approach’, this paper uses some conceptual tools to analyze ‘existence’ in transcendent philosophy and Illumination Wisdom and to explain ‘existence’ in Kant’ view.
