Kant, la teoría de la relatividad y la filosofía de la ciencia de comienzos del siglo XX

Abstract

The rise of the Theory of Relativity implied not only a deep change in the conceptual structures of physicomathematics, but also broke out a series of reflections and discussions about the status of our conceptual scheme and its relation with the fundamental principles of physics. Kant maintained that the Newton’s physic laws had an a priori status, determined by the relation of these laws with the conceptual structures of the transcendental subject. The present article attempts to illuminate some aspects of the discussion round about the epistemological impact on the Theory of Relativity. An important result will be that, in spite of the profound changes that physics displayed, the philosophers that were imbricated in that discussion did not abandon the spirit of Kant’s philosophy, but modified some of their fundamental notions so they could explain the changes they were attending. These modifications of the kantian paradigmcan still be defended as a way of elucidation of scientific knowledge.