On some sources and problems of Kant’s “Ding an sich” translation

Abstract

The paper deals with German and Latin philosophical texts, namely Chr. Wolff’s “German Metaphysics”, A.G. Baimgarten’s “Metaphysics”, J.H. Lambert’s “Architectonics” and J.N. Tetens’s “Philosophical essays on human nature and its development”, that have contributed to the problem of terminological sources of Kant’s “Ding an sich”. I deny the terminological influence of Lock’s “thing in itself” from his “An Essay Concerning Human Understanding” on I. Kant. Based on comparative analysis of some fragments that have been taken from “Critique of Pure Reason”, other published papers, reflections and lectures recordings, as well as all Russian translations of “Critique of Pure Reason” and “Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics”, I specify the translation of important terms from the first Kant’s “Critique” and, in addition, discuss the problem of synonymy of two Kant’s terms “Ding an sich selbst” and “Sache an sich selbst”.