The Kantian Turn

Abstract

This article discusses the intimately contradictory, but equally fruitful, character of the contribution of Immanuel Kant (1724-1804). It is composed of four sections: I) the recomposition of knowledge (retraction of theology and push of the experimental sciences); II) the subordination of nature to freedom (which betrays a fundamental distrust of the Immediate); III) the redefinition of the tasks of reason (where thought is ostensibly transferred from science to ethics); and IV) Kant's shift from being to duty (meaning that the sensible is gradually abandoned in order to bestow all possible relevance on the suprasensible). In this general perspective, Kant's turn magnificently defines the main supports of modernity. Kant has an unusual bibliography; this article deals with a number of aspects that constitute his core with regard to his conception of the modern world, emphasizing —which would be its conclusion— his aporetic character.