A New Letter by Kant

NOTES AND DISCUSSIONS 243 reductio ad absurdum, in which a revolution of the sun is specified as the period between successive vernal equinoxes. If there could be an infinite set of past lunations, then clearly it could be put in a one-to-one correspondence with a proper sub-set of itself--viz., with the set of past lunar months during which vernal equinoxes occurred. But this consequence is preposterous; no set could be so correlated with its own sub-set. Therefore the set of past lunar months cannot be infinite, and the world must have had a beginning. The passage, which is found in Bonaventure's commentary on the Sentences of Peter Lombard, reads as follows :2 Si mundus est aeternus, revolutiones solis in orbe suo sunt infmitae ; rursus, pro una revolutions solis necesse est fuisse duodecim ipsius lunae: ergo plus revoluta est luna quam sol; et sol infinities: ergo infinitorum ex ea parle, qua infinita sunt, est reperire excessum. Hoe autem est impossibile : ergo etc. PA~-r~asoN BROWN Harpur College, State University o] New York Sententiarum L/b. H, Dist. I, P.I, Art. I, Quaest. II, as found in S. Bonaventurme, Opera Omnla (Quaracchi, 1882-1902), II, 21. The text is footnoted as follows: "Similiter argumentatur Algazel, ut refert Averroes, Destr. destr, disp. 1. dub. 5.--Aliquanto superius in plurimis mss. eted. 1 perperam omittitur e~ sol." A NEW LETTER BY KANT* AT THE IIIsTORICAr, SOCmTY of Pennsylvania there are three letters by Kant. 1 Two of these letters are printed as ~ 280 and $ 507 in the edition of the Prussian Academy (Berlin [and Leipzig], 1910 ft.)3 The location of the two letters is there indicated as unknown. A collation reveals that the transcription is inaccurate in respect to orthography and interpunctuation, but that these inaccuracies in no instance affect the meaning. The third letter is mentioned in the Academy edition where it is given /~405a on the basis of references to it in letters $ 408 and ~ 409. This transcription follows the principles of the Academy edition found in the introduction to volume 13. ~n ~ollattn @ott~eb Raft ~riftian ~ie[eroetter ~ I4oenigsberg d. 9 Febr. 1790 ~ie Oaben rrtir, ~evt~e~ter ~reuub, mi~ (~Orem uietentOaItenben ~riefe grogee ~3ergntigen ~emadjt. (~d~ [reue mi6~ ~brer ~uten 9~u~[idjteu, riibme (~Orert ~leDfi, birt her ~d)altung * In this publication C. E. Schweitzer is responsible for the editingof the letter, P. Remnant for the commentary. We want to thank Mr. R. N. Williams, II, forhaving given his kind permission to publish the letter. 1A brief statement on the significance of the sizeable collection of German literary manuscripts at the Society and a catalogue, which includes letters by a few German philosophers, is found in: Christoph E. Schweitzer, "Deutsche Dichterhandschriften in der Historical Society of Pennsylvania," Jahrbuch der DeutschenSchillergeseUschaft,VIII (Stuttgart, 1964), 344-381. 2All further references to the letters will be to this edition. 244 HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY ~el: ~e[urtb~eit roegertbeforgt, ~offe abet bag eine batbige 15~etegenI)eit3u einer fic~ gut beloi)rtettben ~rtformation, ober eirte ~eibptebiger[teIle, bag ~ebttrfrti~ eine~ ~u grogert ~rtiftertaufroanbe~ unb I)iemit hie ~eforgni~ I)ebertroerbe. 9 ~ie ~tetle in bern ~riefe eirte~ ~ini~ter~u I~abei~ ni~t tiber[e~ert urtb roo~l bemerrt, atq roert ~ie aSgqtelt roar; lie bat mid~abet nid}t beNmmert. @r. ~Rein~olb*Igat mir aud} in einem ~rMe eirtigert llnroillen baritber merren IMkn, bag iC0 lethe ~beorie etc. nod) ni~t getden. ~ l)ctbei~)m barauf geantmortet unb er toirb boffentlia~ bamit ~ttfriebert fern, bag id} bie[e Lecture bi~ ~ur ~3ollertbung meiner iet~t bringenben @efc~lifte a ~erfc~iebe. ~3er ~eroei~, bert ~ie ~on Mnem | ba~ ~riterhtm be, ~toff~ ber ~3or[tellung betreffenb, geben, tit ~er~tartbtic~ unb rid~ti~. ~enn i~ unter| einer ~3or[teIlung ba*ienige ~erltebe, rooburd) bet @egeMtanb geoeben toirb, [o mug, roenn ic~ hie f~ntbetifa3e ~inbeit (~u~ammeMetgung), toeldgehie gegeben, bnbern nut gebaa3tmerben Ean,roegnei~mert,ha6 992annigfaltige bet 9~ttfc~auttng(henri bie 9Xn[a3auung irt }Raum nnb ~eit entbtilt nia3tt~~infad)e6") ttbrig bleiben.--~i?r t3eroeit~yon bet ~bealit~tt be6 }Raume~, aI~ ~otm be* tiugerert ~htne...