Philosophy
College of Liberal Arts
Twin Cities
Award Year
2022
University Award
McKnight Land-Grant Professorship
No Monument Location
Immanuel Kant on (Improper) Science
Immanuel Kant, paramount Enlightenment philosopher and keen theorist of science in the wake of the Scientific Revolution, (in)famously tweaked chemistry, psychology, anthropology, and biology as natural sciences, only “improperly so-called.” Bennett McNulty’s research project examines the reasoning behind Kant’s relegation of these disciplines to the rank of “improper” science to grasp better their state of development in the 18th century, Kant’s criticism of them, as well as our contemporary understanding of science.