Bewusstsein und innerer Sinn bei Baumgarten: Ein Beitrag zu Kants Begriff der Apperzeption?
Gualtiero Lorini
Abstract
A.G. Baumgarten is usually studied either as the founder of modern aesthetics or as the author of the Metaphysica, the text used by Kant for his lectures on metaphysics. However, the latter point deserves special attention since Baumgarten's influence on Kant - both positive and negative - on some keyconcepts like that of apperception is particularly relevant. Indeed, although apperception is addressed only marginally in the Metaphysica, it is presupposed by the identification of consciousness with inner sense (§535). Conversely, apperception is explicitly addressed in the Acroasis logica (1761), which is useful for tracing the origin of Baumgarten's positions in the Metaphysica. In the light of these premises, this essay first investigates Baumgarten's approach to the concept of apperception. By analyzing the role played by the "inner sense" in this context, we will then attempt to show whether, how and to what extent Baumgarten's position may have influenced Kant's critical account of apperception.