Bewusstsein und innerer Sinn bei Baumgarten: Ein Beitrag zu Kants Begriff der Apperzeption?

A.G. Baumgarten is usually studied either as the founderofmodernaesthetics or as theauthor of theMetaphysica,the text used byKant for his lec-tures on metaphysics.However,the latter point deserves special attention sinceBaumgarten’sinfluenceonKant–both positive and negative–on somekey-concepts like that of apperception is particularlyrelevant.Indeed, although ap-perception is addressed onlymarginallyintheMetaphysica,itispresupposed bythe identification of consciousnesswith inner sense (§535). Conversely, apper-ception is explicitlyaddressed in theAcroasis logica(1761), which is useful fortracing the origin ofBaumgarten’spositions in theMetaphysica.In the light ofthese premises,this essayfirst investigatesBaumgarten’sapproachto the conceptof apperception. By analyzingthe role playedbythe„inner sense“in this context,we will then attempt to show whether,how and to what extentBaumgarten’sposition mayhaveinfluencedKant’scritical account of apperception.