Abstract

A striking feature of the contemporary debate between realists and anti-realists, which is thriving in current metaphysics and the philosophy of science, is the Kantian flavour of many anti-realist arguments. The question is: are the philosophers involved in this debate aware of such a descent and, if so, to what extent? I have argued in a previous paper of mine that, although many authors recognize some kind of debt to Kant, the awareness of the Kantian heritage widespread in the current realism/anti-realism debate is not as strong as it should be. And this is particularly true within the analytic tradition which, although originally inspired by strong empiricist standards, subsequently turned to a sort of “linguistic idealism” that is shared—often unconsciously—by most of its representatives.