On the Sources of the Kantian Distinction between Voluntary and Involuntary Imagination. Remarks on Platner, Meier and Tetens

The purpose of this article is to highlight some possible sources of Kant's theory of empirical imagination, with particular reference to the distinction between its voluntary and involuntary use. It will be shown that Kant the discussion of the subject is not limited to the mere repetition or extension of Baumgarten's conception, but is affected by other influences, unified by the importance they attach to the psycho-physiological investigation of mental phenomena. Through the analysis of the reflections and the transcripts of the anthropology lectures, the contribution stresses how, not only Platner, but also Meier's Anfangsgründe aller schönen Wissenschaften may have offered relevant insights to the first elaboration of the above distinction. Moreover, the Kantian conception of fantasy, as involuntary imagination, is compared with some passages of Tetens' Philosophische Versuche, before being described in its peculiar caracters.