Unidad sintética y apercepción

Abstract

This article seeks to clarify the relation between self-consciousness and object consciousness in the Critique of Pure Reason of Kant. The problem arises from the poor presence of the word self-consciousness (Selbsbewusstsein) in the first edition of the Critique. This presents two possible interpretations: one that literally adheres to the Kantian use of the terms, and other that in certain contexts understands consciousness as well as selfconsciousness. More specifically, what we are trying to determine here is whether self-consciousness requires object consciousness, or if the reverse happens. This requires an analysis of the concepts of «synthetic unity», «transcendental apperception», «self-consciousness» and «object consciousness» from the second edition of the Critique