休谟怀疑论对康德先验哲学的影响

The Influence of Hume’s Skepticism on Kant’s Transcendental Philosophy

摘要: 休谟的怀疑论在近代哲学中具有根本性的挑战意义，其对因果性、实体及归纳法的挑战(《人类理解研究》)动摇了传统形而上学的根基，迫使哲学重新审视知识的来源与限度。康德承认，正是休谟的怀疑论将他从“独断论的独断性预设”中唤醒(《未来形而上学导论》)，并促使他发展出先验哲学体系。本文旨在探讨休谟的怀疑论如何具体促成康德的“先验转向”，并分析康德在何种意义上回应并超越休谟。首先，休谟对因果必然性的否定揭示了经验归纳的或然性，使康德意识到，若知识仅依赖经验，则普遍必然性无法得到保证。为此，康德将休谟的“因果性问题”转化为“先天综合判断如何可能”的问题，并通过先验范畴重构知识的必然性基础。其次，康德并未全盘接受休谟的怀疑论，而是以先验观念论划定理性的界限，既承认经验知识的有效性，又保留理性批判的可能性。然而，康德在限定知识界限时设定的“物自体”概念，使其体系在认识论边界处产生了未能消除的内在张力。本文认为，休谟的怀疑论是康德批判哲学的必要前提，而康德的回应既是对休谟问题的修正，也是对传统形而上学的超越。这一思想史转折不仅影响了德国观念论的发展，也为现代认识论提供了持续讨论的框架。

Abstract: Hume’s skepticism holds a subversive significance in modern philosophy. His challenges to causality, substance, and induction (An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding) undermined the foundation of traditional metaphysics, compelling philosophy to re-examine the sources and limits of knowledge. Kant acknowledged that it was Hume’s skepticism that awakened him from the “dogmatic slumber” (Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics) and prompted him to develop the transcendental philosophy system. This paper aims to explore how Hume’s skepticism specifically contributed to Kant’s “transcendental turn” and analyze in what sense Kant responded to and surpassed Hume. Firstly, Hume’s denial of causal necessity revealed the probability of empirical induction, making Kant realize that if knowledge were solely dependent on experience, universal necessity could not be guaranteed. For this reason, Kant transformed Hume’s “problem of causality” into the question of “how synthetic a priori judgments are possible” and reconstructed the necessary basis of knowledge through transcendental categories. Secondly, Kant did not fully accept Hume’s skepticism but instead delineated the boundaries of reason with transcendental idealism, acknowledging the validity of empirical knowledge while preserving the possibility of rational criticism. However, Kant’s concept of “thing-in-itself” still contains remnants of skepticism, indicating that his system did not completely resolve Hume’s challenges. This paper argues that Hume’s skepticism is a necessary premise for Kant’s critical philosophy, and Kant’s response is both a correction of Hume’s problems and an advancement beyond traditional metaphysics. This turning point in the history of thought not only influenced the development of German idealism but also provided a framework for continuous discussion in modern epistemology.