ROBSON CARVALHO DOS SANTOS

The aim of this dissertation is to investigate and present the role played by the concept of space in the development of kantian philosophy, especially in its involvement to the formulation of what was called transcendental idealism in the Critique of Pure Reason (1781). To this end, we have chosen three texts: (1) the Physical Monadology (1756); (2) the Concerning the ultimate ground of the differentiation of directions in space (1768); and the On the form and principles of the sensible and the intelligible world (1770). In addition to answering the conceptual question – because the texts chosen present questions that depend on Kant taking a position on the nature of the concept of space – this textual section also seeks to reach the other pole of the question, which is the unfolding of Kant's positions until the presentation of a first version of idealism in the Dissertation. Thus, we aim to develop a commentary on the texts centered on two objectives: (1) a presentation of the text in question based on certain stages of its general structure and the problems it addresses, with the aim of explaining its argument and the concepts that underpin it; and (2) a commentary on the role of the concept of space within the argumentative structure of the analyzed text. By conducting an analysis of kantian arguments and texts impacted by the presence of the concept of space, this dissertation seeks to throw light on a part of the path that leads Kant to the formulation of his transcendental idealism.