Irreversibility as an axiom: unidimensionality and succession in Kant's conception of time

Abstract

In this paper, I argue that, according to Kantian doctrine, the irreversibility of time must be understood as an axiom directly derived from the form of sensitivity. I claim that the two Kantian axioms—the unidimensionality of time and the necessary succession of its moments—imply that time constitutes not only a series but a unidirectional series, in which each instant depends on the previous one. I demonstrate that this directionality does not come from empirical content, but is a structural feature of time as the pure form of intuition. Furthermore, I argue that this formal irreversibility must be distinguished from the irreversibility inherent in certain particular relations; specifically, those determined by causality in the Analogies of Experience. I conclude, therefore, that there are two senses of irreversibility in Kant: one grounded in the form of time itself and another associated with the objective order of phenomena in experience.