Cooper Andrew
Department of Philosophy, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, UK.
Stud Hist Philos Biol Biomed Sci. 2019 Dec;78:101191. doi: 10.1016/j.shpsc.2019.101191. Epub 2019 Jul 26.
In this paper I propose a new account of living natural products in Kant's physical geography. I argue that Kant adopts Buffon's twofold conception of natural history, which consists of a general theory of nature as a physical nexus of causes and a particular account of living natural products in the setting of the earth. Yet in contrast to Buffon, who placed the two parts of natural history on equal epistemic footing, Kant's physical geography can be understood as a second, pragmatic level of inquiry that stands under the formal conditions of nature outlined in Universal Natural History. On the higher, formal level, natural history provides a physical account of time and space as an expanding causal sequence. On the lower, pragmatic level, physical geography provides a causal account of particular natural products as developing within a specific place. I argue that this two-tiered account not only clarifies the relation between metaphysics and experience in Kant's pre-critical philosophy, it also sheds light on the continuity between the method of physical geography and the systematisation of nature presented in the critical philosophy.
在本文中，我提出了一种关于康德自然地理学中生物自然产物的新解释。我认为，康德采纳了布丰对自然史的双重概念，这一概念由作为因果物理联系的自然的一般理论，以及在地球背景下对生物自然产物的具体描述组成。然而，与布丰将自然史的两个部分置于同等认知基础上不同，康德的自然地理学可以被理解为一个处于《普遍自然史》中所概述的自然形式条件之下的、第二个实用层面的探究。在更高的形式层面上，自然史提供了作为不断扩展的因果序列的时间和空间的物理描述。在较低的实用层面上，自然地理学提供了特定自然产物在特定地点内发展的因果描述。我认为，这种两层的解释不仅阐明了康德批判前哲学中形而上学与经验之间的关系，还揭示了自然地理学方法与批判哲学中自然系统化之间的连续性。
