Social Sciences in China, 2023

Vol. 44 , No. 4, 2023

New Explorations into the Thing-in-Itself

(Abstract)

Yu Zhenhua

In response to the Scientific Revolution of the 17th century, Immanuel Kant put forward a transcendental philosophy which distinguished between the appearance and the thing-in- itself (das Ding an sich), in the belief that people can only know appearances, but not things- in-themselves. The fact that contemporary philosophy has gone far beyond transcendental philosophy can be seen clearly in the following respects: the response to the Scientific Revolution; the dualistic theory of qualities; the two concepts of the thing-in-itself; and how to know the thing-in-itself. In order to deepen the discussion of the thing-in-itself, it is necessary to introduce probing new questions and attempt to elucidate a switching theory of reality that distinguishes between the meaning-impoverished thing-in-itself and the meaning- rich thing-in-itself, and advocates placing the focus of philosophical thinking on the latter. Basing ourselves on the switching theory of reality and the total perspective concept that it implies allows us to better understand man’s place in the universe and the mission of philosophy in the post-metaphysical era.

Keywords: Scientific Revolution, thing-in-itself, robust realism, speculative materialism