ABSTRACT

This critical survey of recent work on Kant's doctrine of the fact of reason and his doctrine of the practical postulates (of freedom, God, and immortality) assesses the implications of these doctrines for the debate about realism and antirealism in Kant's moral philosophy.  Section 1 briefly surveys some salient considerations from the first Critique and Groundwork.  In section 2, I argue that recent work on the role, content, "factual" nature, and epistemic status of the fact of reason does not support an anti-realist interpretation of Kant's ethics.  In section 3, I argue that recent work on the derivation and epistemic and ontological status of the practical postulates does not support an anti-realist interpretation of Kant's ethics.