Kant: On necesity of mathematic

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to explain the relationship between the necessity of mathematical judgments and the justification of knowledge about them within the framework of Immanuel Kant's critical philosophy. In this context, a distinction will be made among the epistemic modality, understood as the access to possible experiences; the metaphysical modality, understood as the necessity or possibility of objects in themselves to have certain properties; and the logical-conceptual modality, understood as the necessity or possibility of affirming or denying propositions obeying the logical principles of identity and contradiction, and the content of concepts. I maintain that the Kantian necessity of mathematical propositions is epistemic because it depends on the cognitive faculties that pure reason provides, especially pure intuition.