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[ Bestimmen ] see also absolute , ground , logic , predicate , subject , theology Kant first discusses determination in the context of his critique of Wolff in ND. He defines it in terms of positing ‘a predicate while excluding its opposite’ (ND p. 391, p. 11). From this he goes on to define a ground or reason ( ratio ) ‘as that which determines a subject in respect of any of its predicates’, showing that determination is concerned with the logical relation between a subject and predicate. Some relations of subject and predicate determine why a particular subject is as it is, and these Kant entitles grounds/reasons which determine antecedently; others determine that a subject is as it is, and these are grounds/reasons which determine consequently. To give an example, gravity is the antecedently determining ground/reason for the orbits of the planets – it explains why they are thus; but the ground/reason that they are thus is determined consequently by the combined mass of the sun and planets. The point of this distinction is to criticize Wolff's definition of ground/reason as that by which to understand why something is rather than is not. Determination gives a ground/reason not only for why something is, but also why it is in this and not any other way. Determination re-appears in CPR in the guise of the transcendental ideal. Here Kant supplements the Wolffian account ... log in or subscribe to read full text