Abstract for the Kant in Asia International Conference

at Hong Kong Baptist University

20-23 May 2009

Stephen R. Palmquist, “The Unity of Architectonic Reasoning in Kant and I Ching”

Kant distinguishes his way of philosophizing from other approaches by referring to his as “architectonic” – a term referring to “the art of system building”. He constructs a table of 12 categories from a simple mathematical distinction between two pairs of opposites (2x2=4) each having a threefold (thesis-antithesis-synthesis) form. He imposes this twelvefold structure onto virtually every topic he analyzes systematically. The I Ching similarly constructs a systematic set of mathematical classifications (2x2x2=8 and 8x8=64) that can be imposed, a priori, onto any life situation. This paper examines existing literature on Kant and Chinese philosophy that is relevant to the I Ching in order to assess the extent to which these two approaches to imposing a mathematical form onto a rational subject-matter can be regarded as similar.

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