Solomon Maimon : Monism, Skepticism, and Mathematics

The philosophy of Solomon Maimon (1753-1800) is usually considered an important link between Kant\u2019s transcendental philosophy and German idealism. Highly praised during his lifetime, over the past two centuries Maimon\u2019s genius has been poorly understood and often ignored. Meir Buzaglo offers a reconstruction of Maimon\u2019s philosophy, revealing that its true nature becomes apparent only when viewed in light of his philosophy of mathematics. This provides the key to understanding Maimon\u2019s solution to Kant\u2019s quid juris question concerning the connection between intuition and concept in mathematics. Maimon\u2019s original approach avoids dispensing with intuition (as in some versions of logicism and formalism) while reducing the reliance on intuition in its Kantian sense. As Buzaglo demonstrates, this led Maimon to question Kant\u2019s ultimate rejection of the possibility of metaphysics and, simultaneously, to suggest a unique type of skepticism.