Kants Begriff der Sinnlichkeit

Kant's concept of sensuality, one of the revolutionary innovations of his philosophy, is anything but self-evident. It was however not recognized as a problem until it had been established how its specific aspects differ from the customary linguistic usage and the use of the term in the 18th century. The analysis of sources from the history of concepts which have hardly been considered up to now, the discussion of specific problems connected to Kant's language regulation and the examination of the Latin source material show that there is a need for the revision of certain aspects. This applies not only to the history of the term »sensuality« but also to the lexicography which has been corrected (Historisches Wörterbuch der Philosophie) and supplemented (Grimmsches Wörterbuch). In addition to the information for the history of aesthetics, this work makes an important contribution to determining the correct date of Kant's handwritten reflections.