We are glad to give notice of the release of the volume Kant’s Critical Imagination. The Logic of Schematism, by Cody Staton (Edinburgh University Press, 2025).

From the publisher’s website:

The volume examines the turning point in modern philosophy in which Kant overcomes previous philosophical systems through his theory of imagination. It systematically provides a novel account of Kant’s critical philosophy; it critically engages with both primary source material and secondary commentary in innovative ways; it connects a wide range of arguments in metaphysics, epistemology, ethics and aesthetics; it provides a robust account of Kant’s theory of imagination. 

What is the relationship between philosophy and imagination? Cody Staton claims that Kant’s decision to describe the imagination as mediating between the self and the world created an irrevocable philosophical standpoint. For Kant, since the imagination assists all the powers of the mind, it plays a critical role in the function of all philosophy. This applies to our ideas of God, the soul, the beauty that we experience in nature, the creation and enjoyment of art, and the very idea of life itself.