The copernican revolution in Hume and Kant

Nicholas Capaldi

pp. 234-240

in: Lewis White Beck (ed), Proceedings of the Third international Kant congress, Berlin, Springer, 1972

Abstract

It is impossible to understand modern philosophy without considering the scientific revolution. Even after one admits the medieval root of this revolution, it remains the case that a radical reorientation in Western thinking was introduced by Copernicus, developed by Galileo and Descartes, and philosophically explicated by Hume and Kant. My general purpose is to show how Copernicus was a common influence on Hume and Kant. My specific purpose is to show to what extent both Hume and Kant were revolutionary and to what extent they failed to complete the revolution.

Cited authors

Kant Immanuel

Descartes René

Hume David