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Chapter 15 - Was Kant an Expressivist?

Should He Have Been?

from Part II - Historical and Philosophical Implications

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 September 2025

Luigi Filieri
Affiliation:
Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa
Konstantin Pollok
Affiliation:
Johannes Gutenberg Universität Mainz, Germany
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Summary

Kant is often cited by contemporary expressivists as an early proponent of expressivism. But that association remains controversial. In this chapter, I consider whether Kant is best read as an expressivist, focusing on his account of practical thought and language. In doing so, I present a variety of reasons for thinking that Kant’s views are similar in central respects to contemporary forms of expressivism. But I also argue that there are good reasons for the Kantian to resist any such assimilation – reasons for them to think that Kant’s view is not a form of expressivism, but something better than it.

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Kant on Language , pp. 275 - 294
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2025

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