Abstract

The author considers Kant’s philosophy on the main principles of classical paradigm in science. Kant’s conception of space, time and causality had a significant influence on natural scientific knowledge. The author draws attention to Kant as the creator of the classical scientific paradigm. The article examines Kant’s predecessors, in particular ancient philosophers, Kepler, Galileo, Newton, and and investigates the peculiarities of their influence on the views of the German thinker. Some ideas and notions of classical science appeared before Kant’s philosophy. The author considers ideas of Kant’s philosophy weren’t the early background of classical science. The German philosopher finished the formation of the classical paradigm of science. However, this process began a long time ago before the XVIII century. The author assumes and shows that philosophers Pythagoras, Galileo, and Newton created the foundation of classical science. These three thinkers made a new science known as mechanics. Mechanics is a true science and hard basis for classical paradigm. This idea was then, and it is today, an important part of the conception of causality. The Ancient atomists said «Nothing comes into being from what is not». There is a very simple reason for this principle: if something could come from nothing, if an existent could emerge out of the non-existent, then everything could come into being out of everything. There would be no structure or order of generation, which is perhaps the most important feature of any physics. In a different language, this first principle prohibits generation ex nihilo. Moreover, not only is it impossible for something to come from nothing, something cannot become or «disappear into» nothing. The German astronomer Kepler discovered the laws of planetary motion in the XVII century. It was affirmation that mechanics is a universal science. The mechanical causation became part of the main thesis for determinism. This situation became possible after Newton discovered the law of gravitation and laws of motion. Therefore, the idea is ancient, but first became subject to clarification and mathematical analysis in the eighteenth century. Kant used Newton’s laws about gravitation and motion for his Universe theory. Kant’s ideas about determinism related to the whole Universe, both human and natural. The author assumes that Kant made experimental science as confirmation of the universal thesis of classical paradigm.