In this thesis I present and defend an interpretation of Kant’s theory of experience as it stands from the viewpoint of his empirical realism. My central contention is that Kant’s is a conception of everyday experience, a kind of immediate phenomenological awareness as of empirical objects, and although he takes this to be representational, it cannot itself amount to empirical knowledge because it can be non-veridical, because in such experience it is possible to misrepresent the world. I outline my view in an extended introduction. In Part I I offer a novel interpretation of Kant’s doctrine of sensibility and sensation. Utilizing a data-processor schematic as an explanatory framework, I give an account of how outer sense, as a collection of sensory capacities, is causally affected by empirical objects to produce bodily state sensations that naturally encode information about those objects. This information is then processed through inner sense to present to the understanding a manifold of mental state sensations that similarly encode information. I also give accounts of how the reproductive imagination operates in hallucination to produce sensible manifolds in lieu of current causal affection, and of the restricted role that consciousness plays at this low level of cognitive function. In Part II I turn to the role of the understanding in experience. I offer a two-stage model of conceptual synthesis and explain how Kant’s theory of experience is a unique blend of conceptualist and non-conceptualist elements. I show that it explains how our experience can provide us with reasons for belief while at the same time accounting for the fact that experience is what anchors us to the world. Finally, I return to non-veridical experience. I confront recent naïve realist readings of Kant and argue that, for Kant, the possibility of non-veridicality is built into the very nature of the human mind and the way it relates to the world.

A government-funded scheme, the UK Climate Change Communications Initiative (UKCCCI), provided money for organisations to deliver projects that attempted to impact positively on people’s attitudes towards climate change and to increase knowledge and awareness of the issue. This devolution of communications is a relatively novel approach after previous centralised campaigns. This thesis adopts a mixed-method approach; a qualitative and a quantitative study have been conducted based on three case studies of individual projects funded under the UKCCCI. The quantitative study analyses pre- and post-project surveys to assess whether the communications produced the desired changes in attitude, knowledge and awareness; results are generally mixed in relation to all three case studies as some statistics are more positive after communications, whereas some are less positive. Data from a regional UKCCCI project are compared with a nationally representative dataset; this analysis shows that attitudes, knowledge and awareness differ at regional and national scales, supporting the policy of devolving communications. Regional data are also analysed to see if there are differences between socio-demographic groups within a single target audience for communications; this analysis suggests that interventions must strike a balance between personalisation of information and the higher cost of targeting smaller groups with more specific material. The quantitative study uses conceptual content cognitive mapping (3CM) to discover the climate change-related knowledge of twenty subjects who received communications from two of the case study projects. Results suggest that people have knowledge of a wide range of issues related to climate change, but they do not possess a detailed scientific understanding. However, there is a high knowledge of how to mitigate climate change and this is expressed largely through individual actions and lifestyle choices. A template analysis was also conducted to discover what interviewees thought specifically about the communications and a range of practical recommendations are made for future projects. Implications are discussed in relation to future practical climate change communications projects, wider policy and academic research.

There exists a broad inclination among those who theorize about mental representation to assume that the meanings of linguistic units, like words, are going to be identical to, and work exactly like, mental representations, such as concepts. This has the effect of many theorists applying facts that seem to have been discovered about the meanings of linguistic units to mental representations. This is especially so for causal theories of content, which will be the primary exemplars here. It is the contention of this essay that this approach is mistaken. The influence of thinking about language and mental representation in this way has resulted in the adoption of certain positions by a broad swathe of theorists to the effect that the content of a concept is identical to the property in the world that the concept represents, and that because of this a concept only applies to an object in the world or it does not. The consequences of such commitments are what appear to be insoluble problems that arise when trying to account for, or explain, misrepresentation in cognitive systems. This essay presents the position that in order to actually account for misrepresentation, conceptual content must be understood as being very much like measurements, in that the application of a content to an object in the world is akin to measuring said object, and that conceptual content ought be understood as being graded in the same way that measurements are. On this view, then, concepts are the kinds of things that can be applied more, or less, accurately to particular objects in the world, and so are not identical to whatever it is that they represent.

There exists a broad inclination among those who theorize about mental representation to assume that the meanings of linguistic units, like words, are going to be identical to, and work exactly like, mental representations, such as concepts. This has the effect of many theorists applying facts that seem to have been discovered about the meanings of linguistic units to mental representations. This is especially so for causal theories of content, which will be the primary exemplars here. It is the contention of this essay that this approach is mistaken. The influence of thinking about language and mental representation in this way has resulted in the adoption of certain positions by a broad swathe of theorists to the effect that the content of a concept is identical to the property in the world that the concept represents, and that because of this a concept only applies to an object in the world or it does not. The consequences of such commitments are what appear to be insoluble problems that arise when trying to account for, or explain, misrepresentation in cognitive systems. This essay presents the position that in order to actually account for misrepresentation, conceptual content must be understood as being very much like measurements, in that the application of a content to an object in the world is akin to measuring said object, and that conceptual content ought be understood as being graded in the same way that measurements are. On this view, then, concepts are the kinds of things that can be applied more, or less, accurately to particular objects in the world, and so are not identical to whatever it is that they represent.

A concepção kantiana da lógica é marcada pela distinção entre dois níveis de reflexão: à lógica geral concernem as regras que governam o pensamento como tal, em abstração da origem e do conteúdo de nossos conceitos e juízos, e atendo-se exclusivamente às formas de suas relações recíprocas; à lógica transcendental, por sua vez, concernem as condições sob as quais seria possível uma cognição de objetos independentemente da experiência. Não obstante, a despeito de seus escopos distintos, os princípios da lógica geral e da lógica transcendental devem, por óbvio, ser mutuamente compatíveis. A pre-sente tese parte desse truísmo para investigar qual concepção da estrutura da representa-ção conceitual é capaz de satisfazê-lo. Em outras palavras, ela pretende elucidar que tipo de caracterização das dimensões próprias a qualquer conceito – sua extensão e seu conteúdo – pode adequar-se a uma imagem coerente do projeto de Kant, que abranja sua compreensão da forma lógica do juízo e seu tratamento da possibilidade de juízos sinté-ticos a priori. O primeiro capítulo examina a visão kantiana das funções lógicas do juí-zo como funções de subordinação extensional de conceitos e, com base nisso, reconstrói a questão transcendental da possibilidade dos juízos sintéticos a priori nos seguintes termos: como é possível justificar a necessária subordinação da extensão de um conceito à de outro, quando este não está entre as notas que perfazem o conteúdo daquele? Com vistas à clarificação desse problema e de sua pretendida solução, o segundo capítulo consiste na análise crítica de diferentes modelos interpretativos da concepção kantiana de extensão conceitual: o modelo ôntico, segundo o qual a extensão de um conceito é o conjunto de suas instâncias efetivas; o modelo nocional, segundo o qual a extensão de um conceito equivale ao complexo de seus inferiores por subordinação lógica; o modelo híbrido, que interpreta a extensão conceitual como um amálgama das duas dimensões previamente circunscritas, ou então atribui a Kant duas concepções distintas de extensão conceitual, cada qual correspondendo a uma daquelas dimensões. Esses três modelos interpretativos são rejeitados à luz dos compromissos teóricos das lógicas geral e trans-cendental, especialmente considerada a condição subjacente de sua consistência mútua. O terceiro capítulo articula um modelo alternativo da extensão conceitual que vai ao encontro dessa condição, de acordo com o qual a extensão de um conceito é seu campo de aplicação possível. Levando em conta a distinção crítica entre possibilidade lógica e possibilidade real, e explorando algumas metáforas da Crítica da Razão Pura e da Crí-tica do Juízo, a tese desenvolve esse modelo e mostra suas consequências para a com-preensão da concepção kantiana de conteúdo conceitual, particularmente em relação à doutrina do esquematismo. / Kant‟s conception of logic is marked by the distinction between two levels of reflection: general logic concerns the rules governing thought as such, in abstraction of the origin and content of our concepts and judgments, and attaining exclusively to the forms of their reciprocal relations; transcendental logic, in its turn, concerns the conditions under which it could be possible a cognition of objects independently of experience. Neverthe-less, in spite of their different scopes, the principles of general and transcendental logic must obviously be mutually compatible. The present thesis starts from this truism and sets to enquire what conception of the structure of conceptual representation is capable of satisfying it. In other words, it intends to elucidate what sort of characterization of those dimensions proper to any concept – its extension and its content – could fit a co-herent image of Kant‟s project, comprehending his construal of the logical form of judgment as well as his account of the possibility of synthetic a priori judgments. The first chapter examines Kant‟s view of the logical functions of judgment as functions of extensional subordination of concepts and, on that basis, reconstructs the transcendental question of the possibility of synthetic a priori judgments in the following terms: how is it possible to justify the necessary subordination of one concept‟s extension to anoth-er‟s, when the later concept is not among the marks which comprise the content of the former? Aiming at a clarification of this problem and its purported solution, the second chapter consists of a critical analysis of different interpretative models of Kant‟s con-ception of conceptual extension: the ontic model, according to which the extension of a concept is the set of its actual instances; the notional model, according to which the extension of a concept amounts to the complex of its inferior concepts, i. e. those logi-cally subordinated to it; the hybrid model, which interprets conceptual extension as an amalgam of the two dimensions previously circumscribed, or else ascribes to Kant two distinct conceptions of conceptual extension, each corresponding to one of those dimen-sions. These three interpretative models are rejected in the light of the theoretical com-mitments of general and transcendental logic, especially considering the underlying condition of their mutual consistency. The third chapter articulates an alternative model of conceptual extension that meets this condition, according to which the extension of a concept is its field of possible application. Taking account of the critical distinction be-tween logical and real possibility, and exploring some metaphors found in the Critique of Pure Reason and the Critique of the Power of Judgment, the thesis elaborates this model and shows its consequences to the understanding to Kant‟s conception of concep-tual content, particularly in relation to the doctrine of schematism.

A concepção kantiana da lógica é marcada pela distinção entre dois níveis de reflexão: à lógica geral concernem as regras que governam o pensamento como tal, em abstração da origem e do conteúdo de nossos conceitos e juízos, e atendo-se exclusivamente às formas de suas relações recíprocas; à lógica transcendental, por sua vez, concernem as condições sob as quais seria possível uma cognição de objetos independentemente da experiência. Não obstante, a despeito de seus escopos distintos, os princípios da lógica geral e da lógica transcendental devem, por óbvio, ser mutuamente compatíveis. A pre-sente tese parte desse truísmo para investigar qual concepção da estrutura da representa-ção conceitual é capaz de satisfazê-lo. Em outras palavras, ela pretende elucidar que tipo de caracterização das dimensões próprias a qualquer conceito – sua extensão e seu conteúdo – pode adequar-se a uma imagem coerente do projeto de Kant, que abranja sua compreensão da forma lógica do juízo e seu tratamento da possibilidade de juízos sinté-ticos a priori. O primeiro capítulo examina a visão kantiana das funções lógicas do juí-zo como funções de subordinação extensional de conceitos e, com base nisso, reconstrói a questão transcendental da possibilidade dos juízos sintéticos a priori nos seguintes termos: como é possível justificar a necessária subordinação da extensão de um conceito à de outro, quando este não está entre as notas que perfazem o conteúdo daquele? Com vistas à clarificação desse problema e de sua pretendida solução, o segundo capítulo consiste na análise crítica de diferentes modelos interpretativos da concepção kantiana de extensão conceitual: o modelo ôntico, segundo o qual a extensão de um conceito é o conjunto de suas instâncias efetivas; o modelo nocional, segundo o qual a extensão de um conceito equivale ao complexo de seus inferiores por subordinação lógica; o modelo híbrido, que interpreta a extensão conceitual como um amálgama das duas dimensões previamente circunscritas, ou então atribui a Kant duas concepções distintas de extensão conceitual, cada qual correspondendo a uma daquelas dimensões. Esses três modelos interpretativos são rejeitados à luz dos compromissos teóricos das lógicas geral e trans-cendental, especialmente considerada a condição subjacente de sua consistência mútua. O terceiro capítulo articula um modelo alternativo da extensão conceitual que vai ao encontro dessa condição, de acordo com o qual a extensão de um conceito é seu campo de aplicação possível. Levando em conta a distinção crítica entre possibilidade lógica e possibilidade real, e explorando algumas metáforas da Crítica da Razão Pura e da Crí-tica do Juízo, a tese desenvolve esse modelo e mostra suas consequências para a com-preensão da concepção kantiana de conteúdo conceitual, particularmente em relação à doutrina do esquematismo. / Kant‟s conception of logic is marked by the distinction between two levels of reflection: general logic concerns the rules governing thought as such, in abstraction of the origin and content of our concepts and judgments, and attaining exclusively to the forms of their reciprocal relations; transcendental logic, in its turn, concerns the conditions under which it could be possible a cognition of objects independently of experience. Neverthe-less, in spite of their different scopes, the principles of general and transcendental logic must obviously be mutually compatible. The present thesis starts from this truism and sets to enquire what conception of the structure of conceptual representation is capable of satisfying it. In other words, it intends to elucidate what sort of characterization of those dimensions proper to any concept – its extension and its content – could fit a co-herent image of Kant‟s project, comprehending his construal of the logical form of judgment as well as his account of the possibility of synthetic a priori judgments. The first chapter examines Kant‟s view of the logical functions of judgment as functions of extensional subordination of concepts and, on that basis, reconstructs the transcendental question of the possibility of synthetic a priori judgments in the following terms: how is it possible to justify the necessary subordination of one concept‟s extension to anoth-er‟s, when the later concept is not among the marks which comprise the content of the former? Aiming at a clarification of this problem and its purported solution, the second chapter consists of a critical analysis of different interpretative models of Kant‟s con-ception of conceptual extension: the ontic model, according to which the extension of a concept is the set of its actual instances; the notional model, according to which the extension of a concept amounts to the complex of its inferior concepts, i. e. those logi-cally subordinated to it; the hybrid model, which interprets conceptual extension as an amalgam of the two dimensions previously circumscribed, or else ascribes to Kant two distinct conceptions of conceptual extension, each corresponding to one of those dimen-sions. These three interpretative models are rejected in the light of the theoretical com-mitments of general and transcendental logic, especially considering the underlying condition of their mutual consistency. The third chapter articulates an alternative model of conceptual extension that meets this condition, according to which the extension of a concept is its field of possible application. Taking account of the critical distinction be-tween logical and real possibility, and exploring some metaphors found in the Critique of Pure Reason and the Critique of the Power of Judgment, the thesis elaborates this model and shows its consequences to the understanding to Kant‟s conception of concep-tual content, particularly in relation to the doctrine of schematism.

A concepção kantiana da lógica é marcada pela distinção entre dois níveis de reflexão: à lógica geral concernem as regras que governam o pensamento como tal, em abstração da origem e do conteúdo de nossos conceitos e juízos, e atendo-se exclusivamente às formas de suas relações recíprocas; à lógica transcendental, por sua vez, concernem as condições sob as quais seria possível uma cognição de objetos independentemente da experiência. Não obstante, a despeito de seus escopos distintos, os princípios da lógica geral e da lógica transcendental devem, por óbvio, ser mutuamente compatíveis. A pre-sente tese parte desse truísmo para investigar qual concepção da estrutura da representa-ção conceitual é capaz de satisfazê-lo. Em outras palavras, ela pretende elucidar que tipo de caracterização das dimensões próprias a qualquer conceito – sua extensão e seu conteúdo – pode adequar-se a uma imagem coerente do projeto de Kant, que abranja sua compreensão da forma lógica do juízo e seu tratamento da possibilidade de juízos sinté-ticos a priori. O primeiro capítulo examina a visão kantiana das funções lógicas do juí-zo como funções de subordinação extensional de conceitos e, com base nisso, reconstrói a questão transcendental da possibilidade dos juízos sintéticos a priori nos seguintes termos: como é possível justificar a necessária subordinação da extensão de um conceito à de outro, quando este não está entre as notas que perfazem o conteúdo daquele? Com vistas à clarificação desse problema e de sua pretendida solução, o segundo capítulo consiste na análise crítica de diferentes modelos interpretativos da concepção kantiana de extensão conceitual: o modelo ôntico, segundo o qual a extensão de um conceito é o conjunto de suas instâncias efetivas; o modelo nocional, segundo o qual a extensão de um conceito equivale ao complexo de seus inferiores por subordinação lógica; o modelo híbrido, que interpreta a extensão conceitual como um amálgama das duas dimensões previamente circunscritas, ou então atribui a Kant duas concepções distintas de extensão conceitual, cada qual correspondendo a uma daquelas dimensões. Esses três modelos interpretativos são rejeitados à luz dos compromissos teóricos das lógicas geral e trans-cendental, especialmente considerada a condição subjacente de sua consistência mútua. O terceiro capítulo articula um modelo alternativo da extensão conceitual que vai ao encontro dessa condição, de acordo com o qual a extensão de um conceito é seu campo de aplicação possível. Levando em conta a distinção crítica entre possibilidade lógica e possibilidade real, e explorando algumas metáforas da Crítica da Razão Pura e da Crí-tica do Juízo, a tese desenvolve esse modelo e mostra suas consequências para a com-preensão da concepção kantiana de conteúdo conceitual, particularmente em relação à doutrina do esquematismo. / Kant‟s conception of logic is marked by the distinction between two levels of reflection: general logic concerns the rules governing thought as such, in abstraction of the origin and content of our concepts and judgments, and attaining exclusively to the forms of their reciprocal relations; transcendental logic, in its turn, concerns the conditions under which it could be possible a cognition of objects independently of experience. Neverthe-less, in spite of their different scopes, the principles of general and transcendental logic must obviously be mutually compatible. The present thesis starts from this truism and sets to enquire what conception of the structure of conceptual representation is capable of satisfying it. In other words, it intends to elucidate what sort of characterization of those dimensions proper to any concept – its extension and its content – could fit a co-herent image of Kant‟s project, comprehending his construal of the logical form of judgment as well as his account of the possibility of synthetic a priori judgments. The first chapter examines Kant‟s view of the logical functions of judgment as functions of extensional subordination of concepts and, on that basis, reconstructs the transcendental question of the possibility of synthetic a priori judgments in the following terms: how is it possible to justify the necessary subordination of one concept‟s extension to anoth-er‟s, when the later concept is not among the marks which comprise the content of the former? Aiming at a clarification of this problem and its purported solution, the second chapter consists of a critical analysis of different interpretative models of Kant‟s con-ception of conceptual extension: the ontic model, according to which the extension of a concept is the set of its actual instances; the notional model, according to which the extension of a concept amounts to the complex of its inferior concepts, i. e. those logi-cally subordinated to it; the hybrid model, which interprets conceptual extension as an amalgam of the two dimensions previously circumscribed, or else ascribes to Kant two distinct conceptions of conceptual extension, each corresponding to one of those dimen-sions. These three interpretative models are rejected in the light of the theoretical com-mitments of general and transcendental logic, especially considering the underlying condition of their mutual consistency. The third chapter articulates an alternative model of conceptual extension that meets this condition, according to which the extension of a concept is its field of possible application. Taking account of the critical distinction be-tween logical and real possibility, and exploring some metaphors found in the Critique of Pure Reason and the Critique of the Power of Judgment, the thesis elaborates this model and shows its consequences to the understanding to Kant‟s conception of concep-tual content, particularly in relation to the doctrine of schematism.