From Rational Legislation to Social Commitment:Divergence and Shift in Kant's and Brandom's Conceptions of Normativity

doi:10.13438/j.cnki.jdxb.2026.04.005

Abstract

Abstract: Normativity serves as a crucial theoretical link connecting Kant's critical philosophy and contemporaryNeo-pragmatism.Within his semantic inferentialist framework,Brandom highly commends Kant's "normative turn" and seeks to reinterpret Kant's notions of judgment,understanding,and practical reason.Nevertheless,such reinterpretation runs fundamentally counter to Kant's ideas in terms of both theoretical reason and practical reason.Rooted in Enlightenment rationality,Kant grounds normativity in transcendental categories and rational autonomy,thereby establishing the universal necessity of cognition and morality.By contrast,Brandom interprets normativity within the space of reasons and socio-pragmatic practices,and attributes the responsibility of judgments and actions to commitments and inferential relations within the linguistic community.Their divergence reflects the inherent tension embodied in the transformation of the understanding of normativity from a transcendental-rationalist framework to a socio-pragmatic perspective.

Key words: Kant, Brandom, normativity, transcendental reason, semantic pragmatism, social commitment, reasons

Li Gang. From Rational Legislation to Social Commitment:Divergence and Shift in Kant's and Brandom's Conceptions of Normativity[J]. Journal of Jishou University(Social Sciences Edition), 2026, 47(4): 39-51.

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