Kant, and Causal Laws Analysis

In the Second Analogy, Kant also explains what makes it possible to infer the objective succession from the subjective succession. He argues that objective succession must stand under a causal rule. The subjective order of perceptions is always successive, but we cannot immediately infer objective succession from the subjective succession. To make this inference possible the object's states must be subject to a rule that determines them as successive. Kant mentions this requirement in the following paragraph.

“must therefore consist in the order of the manifold of appearance in accordance

with which the apprehension of one thing (that which happens) follows that of

the other (which precedes it) in accordance with a rule. Only thereby can I be

justified in saying of the appearance itself, and not merely of my apprehension,

that a sequence is to be encountered in it.” (A193/B238)

Then, he characterizes this rule as something that always and necessarily follows. Also, this rule must make the

progress from a given time to the determinately following one possible, and necessarily relate every perception to something else in general that precedes. Accordingly, the successive states of an object must include a relation of condition to conditioned, i.e., that of the causal dependence of successive states on a cause6; consequently, the rule is a causal rule. Kant explains the argument for the claim that we can have knowledge about objective succession if the successive states of the object stands under a causal rule in the following passage.

“In accordance with such a rule there must therefore lie in that which

in general precedes an occurrence the condition for a rule, in accordance with which this occurrence always and ...

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