Depth: A Kantian Account of Reason [Hardcover]

It is striking that, although philosophers have theories about the values of truth, goodness and beauty, they do not provide an account of the value of depth, which is also frequently referred to in our everyday evaluative discourse. InDepth, Melissa Zinkin provides one of the few philosophical accounts of depth. Moreover, she does this through a new interpretation of the philosophy of Immanuel Kant. By showing that Kant was in fact arguing for this unique and important value, Zinkin shows how Kant is still relevant to contemporary philosophical discussions of value. Indeed, Kant's philosophy has much to offer anyone today who is critical of superficial or shallow thinking.InDepth : A Kantian Account of ReasonMelissa Zinkin provides a new and highly original interpretation of Kant's view of reason. Unlike recent interpretations, which claim that for Kant reason is valuable because it is the source of moral value, this book argues that Kant considers reason to be the source of a more fundamental and wider ranging value: depth. Although philosophers often use the term depth to indicate a kind of value, they rarely make explicit what they mean. For instance, they strive to make objections that go deep into the theory at issue. They stress the importance of beliefs that are deeply held and of deep desires. They praise works of great emotional depth. Often, these references to depth do real work in an argument. Yet the concept of depth itself remains obscure.Zinkin argues that depth is the value of the cognition that results from systematic reflection, which is the distinctive activity of human reason. This value, however, is not just a moral or an epistemic value. Rather, it is best understood as an aesthetic value. In other words, what is good about deep cognition is the same as what is good about our experience of a work or art--it engages us, it makes us think, and it is meaningful. An account of Kant's view of reason as the source of delƒ)