On Kant's first insight into the problem of space dimensionality and its physical foundations

Abstract

In this article it is shown that a careful analysis of Kant's "Thoughts on the True Estimation of Living Forces" leads to a conclusion that does not match the usually accepted interpretation of Kant's reasoning in 1747, according to which the Young Kant supposedly establishes a relationship between the tridimensionality of space and Newton's law of universal gravitation. Indeed, it is argued that this text does not yield a satisfactory explanation of space dimensionality, actually restricting itself to justify the tridimensionality of extension.