Fictions of Systematicity: Maimon's Quest for a Scientific Method in Philosophy
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Abstract
This paper argues that Maimon’s metaphilosophy presents a distinctive view on what the scientific role and method of philosophy should consist in: in the production of fictions of systematicity. It shows how Maimon’s philosophy of science links to metaphilosophical views, and ultimately leads him to adopt the so-called “method of fictions” to transform philosophy into a proper science. By connecting his remarks on scientific fictions and their methodological role with Kant’s doctrine of regulative ideas and the latter’s conception of systematicity, the paper develops a systematic account of the method of fictions, its employment in theoretical philosophy and the scientific image resulting from this view.
