The obscurities of the enlightened : reflections on Kantian blind spots
This thesis focusses on dark elements of obscurity within the philosophy of Immanuel Kant, which cannot be dispelled by the light of Auflclarung. Indeed the blind-spots exainined are structurally necessary to the philosophical system and as a result cannot be removed. I suggest that for Kant, as for all metaphysical thinkers, it is the systematic need for origins and foundations which creates the unsettling effects working against absolute revelation. This search for foundational security is traditionally ,expressed through the analogy with architecture. Indeed the architectural more-than metaphor is called upon to provide metaphysics with the down-toearth, grounding principles it so desperat~ly needs. My thesis examines at length the idea of the architectonic- which leads inevitably'into a wider discussion of the image of architecture as a discipline. The first chapter addresses the question of the founder and sovereign ofa political system. Here I examine Kant's analysis of the monarch, who is supposed to keep the nation together through hislher own person. Kant apparently abhors the act of regicide, believing that it provokes the suicide of the state. However, I highlight a mysterious doubling of the sover~igu
Morgan, Diane Lesley
Philosophy
The obscurities of the enlightened : reflections on Kantian blind spots. This thesis focusses on dark elements of obscurity within the philosophy of Immanuel Kant, which cannot be dispelled by the light of Auflclarung. Indeed the blind-spots exainined are structurally necessary to the philosophical system and as a result cannot be removed. I suggest that for Kant, as for all metaphysical thinkers, it is the systematic need for origins and foundations which creates the unsettling effects working against absolute revelation. This search for foundational security is traditionally ,expressed through the analogy with architecture. Indeed the architectural more-than metaphor is called upon to provide metaphysics with the down-toearth, grounding principles it so desperat~ly needs. My thesis examines at length the idea of the architectonic- which leads inevitably'into a wider discussion of the image of architecture as a discipline. The first chapter addresses the question of the founder and sovereign ofa political system. Here I examine Kant's analysis of the monarch, who is supposed to keep the nation together through hislher own person. Kant apparently abhors the act of regicide, believing that it provokes the suicide of the state. However, I highlight a mysterious doubling of the sover~igu
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