Depth: A Kantian Account of Reason

Auteur
Melissa Zinkin is Professor of Philosophy at Binghamton University (SUNY). She has published articles on Kant, philosophy of art, and feminist philosophy.

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It is striking that, although philosophers have theories about the values of truth, goodness and beauty, they do not provide an account of the value of "depth," which is also frequently referred to in our everyday evaluative discourse. In Depth, Melissa Zinkin provides one of the few philosophical accounts of depth. Moreover, she does this through a new interpretation of the philosophy of Immanuel Kant. By showing that Kant was in fact arguing for this unique and important value, Zinkin shows how Kant is still relevant to contemporary philosophical discussions of value. Indeed, Kant's philosophy has much to offer anyone today who is critical of superficial or shallow thinking.

Résumé
In Depth:A Kantian Account of Reason, Melissa Zinkin provides a new and highly original interpretation of Kant's view of reason. Unlike recent interpretations, which claim that for Kant reason is valuable because it is the source of moral value, this book argues that Kant considers reason to be the source of a more fundamental and wider ranging value: depth. Although philosophers often use the term depth to indicate a kind of value, they rarely make explicit what they mean. For instance, they strive to make objections that go deep into the theory at issue. They stress the importance of beliefs that are deeply held and of deep desires. They praise works of great emotional depth. Often, these references to depth do real work in an argument. Yet the concept of depth itself remains obscure. Zinkin argues that depth is the value of the cognition that results from systematic reflection, which is the distinctive activity of human reason. This value, however, is not just a moral or an epistemic value. Rather, it is best understood as an aesthetic value. In other words, what is good about deep cognition is the same as what is good about our experience of a work or art--it engages us, it makes us think, and it is meaningful. An account of Kant's view of reason as the source of depth has advantages over other accounts because it can solve several interpretative puzzles and can show that, throughout his texts, Kant has a unified view of reason. Moreover, it can reveal the deep connection that Kant saw between our reason and our humanity. An implication of this account is that the deep, rational, reflection that is exemplified, and cultivated, by the arts, is important for other human endeavors, such as science and moral action.

Contenu

• Acknowledgments

• Note on sources and Abbreviations

• Introduction: Depth

• Part 1: Kant's Theoretical Philosophy

• Chapter 1. Reason, Systematicity, Judgment and Depth in the Critique of Pure Reason

• Chapter 2. System, Purposiveness and Depth in the Critique of the Power of Judgment

• Chapter 3. Good Judgment: Aesthetic Judgment and the Generation of Concepts

• Part II: Kant's Practical Philosophy

• Transition to Part II: Kant's Practical Philosophy

• Chapter 4. Practical Reason as the Source of Explanation and Comprehension

• Chapter 5. Depth and Moral Worth: Arpaly and Markovits

• Chapter 6. Shallow Morality in the Groundwork

• Chapter 7. The Puzzle of One Law and Three Formulations

• Chapter 8. The Law of Nature Formulation

• Chapter 9. The Formula of Humanity Formulation

• Chapter 10. Autonomy and the Kingdom of Ends

• Chapter 11. The "Third Thing": Depth and Autonomy

• Conclusion: The Unity of Reason and One's "Inmost Self"

• Bibliography

• Index