A concepção multifacetada de natureza em Kant

Abstract

Kant developed three major conceptions of nature. Each one is made possible by and corresponds to one of his Critiques. In the First Critique, nature is the ensemble of knowledge that is made possible through the understanding and represents the mechanicalcausal nature. This is nature as it is dealt with by science. In the Second Critique we are presented a conception of nature that transcends our sensibility and results from reason as it creates its own laws. This is supersensible nature, as it grounds freedom and the practical-ethical actions. In the Third Critique we have organic nature, which is, at once, cause and effect of itself and is made possible by intuitive understanding. The different conceptions of nature are differentiated forms of knowledge, elaborated from diverse principles. And yet the three forms of nature are legitimate and do not exclude the other two.