I propose that we interpret Kant’s argument from incongruent counterparts in the 1768 article ‘Concerning the Ultimate Ground of the Differentiation of Directions in Space’ in light of a theory of dynamic absolute space that he accepted throughout the 1750s and 1760s. This force-based or material conception of space was not an unusual interpretation of the Newtonian notion of absolute space. Nevertheless, commentators have continually argued that Kant’s argument is an utter failure that shifts from the metaphysics of space to its epistemology, because he has no way to connect ‘directionality’ and ‘handedness’ to absolute space. This supposed failure is based on an understanding of absolute space in purely mathematical terms and as an absolute void that lacks any qualitative or dynamic features. If we recognize that Kant held that space had an intrinsic directional asymmetry then his argument successfully connects incongruent counterparts to absolute space. The presence of this notion in Kant’s pre-Critical thought is rarely noted, and its necessity in understanding his incongruence argument is novel.

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空间的不对称性：康德1768年的绝对空间理论

我建议我们根据康德在 1750 年代和 1760 年代接受的动态绝对空间理论，从 1768 年的文章“关于空间方向分化的终极基础”中从不一致的同行中解释康德的论点。这种基于力或物质的空间概念并不是对牛顿绝对空间概念的不寻常解释。然而，评论家们一直认为康德的论点是从空间的形而上学转向其认识论的彻底失败，因为他无法将“方向性”和“手性”与绝对空间联系起来。这种假定的失败是基于对纯数学术语的绝对空间的理解，以及缺乏任何定性或动态特征的绝对虚空。如果我们认识到康德认为空间具有内在的方向不对称性，那么他的论点就成功地将不一致的对应物与绝对空间联系起来。这个概念在康德的前批判思想中的存在很少被注意到，并且它在理解他的不一致论证中的必要性是新颖的。