La definizione kantiana del concetto di “mondo” nei Pensieri sulla vera valutazione delle forze vive

In Thoughts on the True Estimation of Living Forces Kant determines the concept of ‘world’ by means of a Wolffian definition. Despite this legacy, Kant does not share grounding principles of cosmology as a part of metaphysics with Wolff and his followers. My paper explains how Kant points out the inadequacy of the Wolffian definition with regard to basic problems of cosmology, such as the possibility to prove the unicity of the world and the unity of the universe. Unlike other scholars, I argue that Kant tries to face this inadequacy by suggesting a reappraisal of the concept of location and a new conception of external relations of substances. As a part of this issue, the paper offers a new interpretation of Kant's considerations about the three-dimensionality of extension, showing its relevance in understanding his early concept of space.