Condition of possibility

Condition of possibility

Condition of possibility (Bedingungen der Möglichkeit) is a philosophical concept made popular by Immanuel Kant.

A condition of possibility is a necessary framework for the possible appearance of a given list of entities. It is often used in contrast to the unilateral causality concept, or even to the notion of interaction. For example, consider a cube made by an artisan. All cubes are three-dimensional. If an object is three-dimensional, then it is an extended object. But extension is an impossibility without space. Therefore space is a condition of possibility because it is a necessary condition for the existence of cubes to be possible. Note, however, that space did not cause the cube, but that the artisan did, and that the cube and space are distinct entities, so space isn’t part of the definition of cube.

Gilles Deleuze presented it as a dichotomy in contradistinction to the classical phenomenon/noumenon dichotomy. From Plato to Descartes, what was presented by the senses was deemed illusory and denigrated. It was believed that the perceptions ought to be overcome to grasp the thing-in-itself, the essential essence, ala Plato’s allegory of the cave. With Kant comes a transition in philosophy from this dichotomy to the dichotomy of the apparition/conditions-of-appearance. There is no longer any higher essence behind the apparition. It is what it is, a brute fact, and what one must now examine is the conditions that are necessary for its appearance. Immanuel Kant does just this in the Transcendental Aesthetic, when he examines the necessary conditions for the synthetic a priori cognition of mathematics. But Kant was a transition, so he still maintains the phenomenon/noumenon dichotomy, but the noumenon has already been relegated unknowable and to be ignored.[1]

Foucault would come to adapt it in a historical sense through the concept of "episteme".

References

  1. ^ Deleuze: Kant: 14 March 1978. (in French)



Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • possibility of a reverter — n. A chance that an estate will return to the person who granted it if certain conditions occur. The Essential Law Dictionary. Sphinx Publishing, An imprint of Sourcebooks, Inc. Amy Hackney Blackwell. 2008. possibility of a reverter …   Law dictionary

  • Condition — • That which is necessary or at least conducive to the actual operation of a cause Catholic Encyclopedia. Kevin Knight. 2006. Condition     Condition      …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • Possibility — is the condition or fact of being possible. The Latin origins of the word hint at ability. Possibility also refers to something that could happen , that is not precluded by the facts, but usually not probable. Impossible denotes that something is …   Wikipedia

  • possibility of reverter — pos·si·bil·i·ty of reverter: a future interest in property that is retained by the grantor of a conditional fee or determinable fee and by which property reverts to the grantor upon the occurrence of a particular event or fulfillment of a… …   Law dictionary

  • possibility — late 14c., “condition of being possible,” from O.Fr. possibilité (13c.), from L. possibilitas, from possibilis (see POSSIBLE (Cf. possible)). Meaning “a possible thing or substance” is from c.1400. Related: Possibilities …   Etymology dictionary

  • possibility — [päs΄ə bil′ə tē] n. [ME possibilite < LL possibilitas] 1. the quality or condition of being possible 2. pl. possibilities something that is possible …   English World dictionary

  • possibility of reverter — A type of future interest, if it may be properly designated as an interest, which remains in a grantor by deed or his successor in interest or in a testator s heirs or devisees where, by grant or devise, there has been created an estate in fee… …   Ballentine's law dictionary

  • possibility — An uncertain thing which may happen. A contingent interest in real or personal estate. It is either near (or ordinary), as where an estate is limited to one after the death of another, or remote (or extraordinary), as where it is limited to a man …   Black's law dictionary

  • possibility — I (New American Roget s College Thesaurus) Capability of being done Nouns possibility, potentiality, likelihood, liability; what may be, what is possible; compatibility (see agreement); reasonability; reasonableness (see reasoning);… …   English dictionary for students

  • possibility of issue extinct — A contingency affecting the character of an estate as vested or contingent, as continuing or as terminated. 28 Am J2d Est § 319. A concept to be denied, both American and English authorities being in accord upon the proposition that, for the… …   Ballentine's law dictionary

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”