Phil 129: Final Paper Prompts

An electronic copy of your paper is due at 5 p.m. on Monday, May 6th. It should be uploaded
onto the ‘Assignments’ tab for ‘Final Paper’ on Canvas.

Directions:
You are to pick one of the following topics to answer. Your answer should be 2000-2500 words,
double-spaced. Please include a word count at the end.

For citations, you can cite either the A/B pagination or the Cambridge pagination. When
writing papers on Kant, there is a temptation to use very long quotations. Try to avoid
this. It is best to keep quotations short and to put Kant’s ideas in your own words.

Please include a brief introductory paragraph with a thesis statement, as well as a brief
concluding paragraph.

Prompt 1: Kant’s Metaphysics

In the first Critique, Kant has a twofold project with respect to metaphysics. On the one hand,
he is critical of metaphysics as it is traditionally practiced, e.g., in the rationalist tradition. On
the other hand, he seeks to defend a positive account of the metaphysics of experience. In this
essay, you are to reconstruct and critically assess his theory of metaphysics. To do so you
should explain (a) Kant’s analysis of what is required for the possibility of metaphysics, viz.,
that there be synthetic a priori cognition, (b) why he thinks metaphysics as it is traditionally
practiced cannot result in a priori cognition, and (c) why Kant thinks his metaphysics of
experience can result in such cognition. (d) Do you think that Kant defends a viable
metaphysical position? If so, why? If not, why not?

Prompt 2: Kant’s Criticism of Metaphysics

In the Transcendental Dialectic, Kant argues that rationalist metaphysics rests on a
‘transcendental illusion’ concerning the ideas of God, soul, and the world-whole. Although this
illusion is one that Kant thinks we should not give into, he, nevertheless, thinks it is, in some
sense, unavoidable. In this essay, you are to reconstruct and critically assess Kant’s critique of
metaphysics. To do so, you should (a) explain what Kant thinks a transcendental illusion is in
general (A293/B249-A298/B355). Then (b) select one idea, either the ‘soul’ or the ‘world-
whole’, and explain Kant’s account of (b.1) the origin of this idea and (b.2) how we resolve the
illusion that it gives rise to. If you pick the world-whole, you can either talk about the idea of
the world-whole in general or focus on the particular conception of the world-whole as it is
articulated in the 3rd Antinomy. (c) Explain what remaining positive, ‘regulative’ use Kant
thinks the ideas of reason still have. (d) Do you think that Kant offers a convincing critique of
traditional metaphysics? If so, why? If not, why not?

Prompt 3: The Self

In both the Transcendental Deduction and the Paralogisms, Kant defends a theory of the self.
This theory includes both a positive account of the nature of the self and a negative account of
the problematic metaphysical theories of the self, which are defended by rational psychologists.
In this essay, you are to reconstruct and critically assess Kant’s theory of the self. To do so, you
should explain (a) the positive account of the self as the ‘I think’ that Kant presents in §16 of the
Transcendental Deduction (B131-36), (b) his criticisms of the rational psychologist view of the

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self in the Paralogisms, and (c) what view of the self he ultimately defends. (d) Do you think
that this is a convincing account of the self? If so, why? If not, why not?

Prompt 4: Transcendental Idealism

Kant defends his theory of transcendental idealism at various pivotal junctures in the first
Critique: at the end of the Transcendental Aesthetic (A41/B59-A49/B73), in the Phenomena-
Noumena chapter (B306-A260/B315), and in the resolution to the Antinomies (A490/B518-
A497/B525). In this essay, you are to present your interpretation of Kant’s theory of
transcendental idealism and critically evaluate it. Your interpretation should include a
discussion of (a) Kant’s account of what appearances are, (b) his account of what the things-in-
themselves are, (c) how he thinks appearances relate to things-in-themselves and (d) what he
thinks our cognitive relationship is to appearances and things-in-themselves. (e) Do you think
transcendental idealism is a viable position? If so, why? If not, why not?

Prompt 5: Free choice

Kant’s proof of the external world in the Refutation of Idealism, Kant’s account of freedom in
the resolution to the 3rd Antinomy, Kant’s racism, Kant’s theory of epistemic justification in the
Canon, Kant’s theory of hope in the Canon, Kant’s theory of mental representation, how the
Transcendental Aesthetic and Analytic fit together as part of the Copernican Revolution ….
These are just a few of the many topics you haven’t yet had the opportunity to write on, but
you might be interested in doing so. If one of these topics, or some other topic, is one you
would like to explore, please let me know and we will come up with a strategy for you to do so.