#291 Nicholas Stang: The Metaphysics, Epistemology, and Ethics of Kant
RECORDED ON NOVEMBER 27th, 2019.
Dr. Nicholas Stang is Associate Professor in the Philosophy Department of the University of Toronto, and also a Humboldt Research Fellow at the Humboldt University in Berlin. His primary research interests are metaphysics and its history (mainly in German philosophy). His first book, Kant’s Modal Metaphysics, was published by Oxford University Press in 2016. While most of Dr. Stang’s published work has been about Kant, he is increasingly interested in pre-Kantian rationalism (Leibniz, Spinoza) and in post-Kantian figures, especially Hegel and Heidegger. He also works on contemporary metaphysics and aesthetics. His side interests include: Jewish philosophy, early analytic philosophy, philosophy of mathematics, and critical theory.
In this episode, we focus on Kantian philosophy, particularly on his metaphysics, epistemology and ethics. We start by presenting what metaphysics is, and the sorts of questions it deals with. We also talk about how modern metaphysics positions itself in relation to science and Physics, referring on the way to the epistemological limits of a materialist approach. Then we get into Kant’s metaphysics, and explore concepts like the noumenon and the phenomenon. After that, we move to his epistemology, and discuss sensibility, the categories of understanding, and pure Reason with its antinomies. Finally, we go through Kantian ethics, and the necessity of a God, a soul and free will. We also address the metaphysical status of moral laws, and the is-ought gap from a Kantian perspective.
Time Links:
What is metaphysics?
About possible entities
Can we derive metaphysics from Physics?
The limits of the scientific materialist approach
Kantian metaphysics, and the noumenon and the phenomenon
According to Kant, can we know what reality is? (Kant’s epistemology, sensibility, and the categories of understanding)
Pure reason, and the antinomies of reason (the Universe, God, and free will)
Kantian ethics, and practical reason (God, the soul, and free will)
The metaphysical status of moral laws, the is-ought gap, and Hegel
Follow Dr. Stang’s work!
Follow Dr. Stang’s work:
Faculty page: http://bit.ly/2LJLETx
Academia.edu profile: http://bit.ly/2XQSxXC
PhilPeople profile: http://bit.ly/2Mb8YbP
Works on ResearchGate: http://bit.ly/30KT0dQ
Twitter handle: @sturmundstang