Abstract for the Kant in Asia
International Conference
at Hong Kong Baptist
University
20-23 May 2009
Susan Shell ,
“Kant on Autonomy and Unity of the Person”
In what way or ways is the Kantian "person" a unity? And how does his concept of autonomy bear on the question of self-identity? From early on in his writings, Kant was concerned with the problem of self-identity and unity of personhood -- not only as a theoretical conundrum but also for its moral implications -- e.g., its bearing on the question of human immortality. My paper explores the way in which his discovery of the principle of autonomy (in the early 1780's) altered his general understanding of this issue. It also investigates his ongoing treatment the paradoxical relation between our noumenal and phenomenal "selves" that this discovery brings to light. Kant was sometimes wont (especially in the late writings) to treat the human self as if it were made up of two separate substances. My paper will attempt to explain what drove him to this paradoxical formulation, and in what sense, if any, it can be regarded as definitive.