Vojtěch Šimek
SUMMARY
What Can Be Known, and What Can Be Merely Acknowledged? The Initial Questions of Epistemology in Robert Spaemann’s Philosophy
The paper analyses two preliminary epistemological problems in Robert Spaemann’s philosophy that have not yet been addressed as mutually linked. The common root of both problems lies in the way Spaemann specifically applies Kant’s statement “being is not a real predicate”. The first problem concerns the criteria for distinguishing between waking and dream cognition, the second the criteria for distinguishing a living being from a simulation. The analysis shows, among other things, the broader context of Spaemann’s epistemological position, its three main characteristics, and Spaemann’s specific use of the term Anerkennung (“acknowledgement”), which he adopted from German idealism.