Kant’s Modal Theory of Assent

In recentyears,Kant-Forschunghasshownan increasinginterestinKant’sac-countof assent,or“holding-to-be-true”[Fürwahrhalten]. Mostof thecontribu-tionson thistopicfocuson specificaspectsofKantianreflection–especiallythoserelatedto theconceptof belief[Glaube].¹Whattheliteraturehas notyetshownis theproperepistemicfunction ofFürwahrhaltenandits preciserolein Kant’slogic.InthispaperIargue that,far frombeingamarginalconceptin Kant’sworks,Fürwahrhaltenis thecoreofawell-structuredepistemictheoryof assentthatKant developsin accordancewithhis doctrine of logicalmodality.Thepaperconsistsof threeparts:in thefirst,IshowhowKant’smodaltheoryofFürwahrhaltenreinterpretsthe traditionalconceptsof certaintyandprovero hab-eredevelopedbythe rationalists.In thesecond,Itakeintoaccountthestrictre-lationbetweenFürwahrhaltenandthepowerof judgmentandits relevancetothedevelopment of an epistemictheoryof modality.Inthe lastpart,Ianalyzein furtherdetailthelinkbetweenthemodalitiesof judgmentsand thoseof as-sentin orderto reveal theinnovationsto theWolffianconceptionof empiricalcertaintythatKant introduces.