Kant's approach to understanding space from the perspective of modern natural science

Abstract

The logical-historical subtext of Kant's definition of space and time as pure forms of sensory knowledge is investigated. The author analyzes the thinker's revision of the concept of a priori, his assertion of the existence of a priori synthetic judgments that serve as the basis for the formulation of the problem of the possibility of a priori forms of sensuality. In the center of the consideration is Kant's correlation of the categories of substance and form, matter and form, spatial incongruence as justifications of transcendental aesthetics. Special emphasis is placed on the differentiation, even the opposition of the categories of matter and form, substance and form by the thinker. The main method is hermeneutical reinterpretation of Kant's legacy from the standpoint of achievements and problems of modern cosmology. The main conclusions of this study are: 1) The formulation of the problem of the human dimension of our Universe in Kant's philosophy, which echoes the anthropic principle widely discussed in physics and testifies to the enduring projective significance of the philosopher's creativity.2) In this regard, it is permissible to attribute a priori forms of sensuality to the innate features of the human body. The three-dimensionality of the form of human sensory perception in the models of eleven-dimensional space-time discussed in modern science determines the very fact of the possibility of its existence. 3) In Kantian philosophy, the question is not raised how the form is attached to the essence. The development of modern elementary particle physics and cosmology in geometrodynamic content has come close to this priority issue.