Kant and the object of determinate experience

Cui prodest? One benefit is that my study extends non-trivially Friedman’s thesis that the Principia is the paradigmatic instantiation of Kant’s categories. A critic might ask if Newton’s theory is the paradigm — an exemplary case — or just the sole application of Kant’s abstract categories to rigorous experience. That would lessen their value in proportion as the Principia turns out to have limits. I establish that Friedman has a point after all: Kant’s categorical inventory can ground exact science beyond Newton. Another benefit is that my study brings Kant’s foundations into the present. For all its towering genius, the Principia is a work in early modern science. In contrast, classical mechanics is a live area of physics and philosophy (Sklar 2013; Batterman 2013). Thus, I show, Kant remains relevant.