The Mind-Body Problem in Kant’s Living Forces and in its Intellectual Environment: An Approach from Intellectual History

Abstract

This contribution examines the solution to the mind-body problem which Kant formulates within the framework of his first causal account. It analyzes Kant’s metaphysical approach and his interactionist solution to this problem in his work on “living forces” and, by using methodological orientations of intellectual history, it contrasts them with the approaches and solutions of other thinkers who influenced the formation of Kantian thought, namely Marquardt and Knutzen, exponents of some of the main casual doctrines of their time, such as pre-established harmony and physical influx. The Kantian solution is proposed, in one sense, as a middle way between these two doctrines and, in another sense, as a critical stance against both of them.