What is the a priori principle of the new faculty? Kant apparently gives two answers in the Critique: First, he presents a ‘principle of systematicity’ that is supposed to authorize us to regard nature as a system with respect to its particular, or empirical, laws. This is also paraphrased as the principle that for every object in nature an empirical concept can be found, and Kant provides a transcendental deduction for it. Satisfaction of the principle is accompanied by pleasure, but it seems clear that this cannot be the pleasure of taste. A second principle is later entitled the principle of taste. The relation, if any, between these principles is a long-standing problem. I focus in this chapter on the first formulation and attempt to elucidate the role it plays in guiding the imagination in the process of concept formation and discuss the relation of the principles in Ch.7.

The present chapter focuses on Neapolitan maestri/operisti who produced instrumental compositions at the end of the eighteenth century – with particular attention accorded to Giovanni Paisiello, Domenico Cimarosa, and Pietro Alessandro Guglielmi. The “three crowns” of late Neapolitan stage drama had traveled widely and composed instrumental music throughout the Italian peninsula and as far afield as London, Vienna, and St. Petersburg. Their unique status and the extant repertory of their instrumental music suggest an engaged, contemporary cultivation of genres in Naples, with their music being produced in diverse contexts. These ranged from the Neapolitan royal court and direct patronage by Maria Carolina and Ferdinand IV to noble, diplomatic, and mercantile sponsors. There is also a large body of related documentary evidence verifying the importance of instrumental music in these settings – including personal correspondence, archival materials, iconographic sources, organizations that programmed instrumental concerts, and the presence of local artisans devoted to instrumental design and production. Special attention is given to the role occupied by the sovereigns through their direct patronage. This sponsorship often occurred in the setting of court feste and celebrations within the different royal palaces of the kingdom.

The present chapter continues the discussion about Neapolitan maestri/operisti who produced instrumental compositions, focusing on Domenico Cimarosa and Pietro Alessandro Guglielmi. The surviving instrumental works of Cimarosa and Guglielmi favor keyboard genres (solo and ensemble), reflecting the preferences of Maria Carolina. The evidence also includes larger forms such as the concerto and sinfonia, the latter bearing clues regarding possible performances by the Cappella Reale. The pieces examined in this chapter reveal the distinctive imprimatur of Neapolitan pedagogy, namely the presence of melodic schemata not only as a principal technical resource but also, and more importantly, as the fundamental core of a distinctive style.

Chapter 6 seeks to establish that Kant’s account of the schematism of the pure understanding in the Critique of Pure Reason yields the same result as the transcendental deduction, but does so by approaching the question concerning the legitimate use of categories from the angle of time qua pure form of intuition. On my reading, Kant conceives of transcendental schemata and categories as different instances of the a priori rules that determine how the mind can unify a manifold at all. Since transcendental schemata present these rules as ways of unifying successive representations, they can be said to constitute the sensible condition of any a priori cognition of objects. I take Kant to argue that Wolffian metaphysics ought to use categories independently of this condition in order to establish itself as a purely intellectual discipline and, hence, that a priori judgments about the soul or God do not amount to cognitions of objects.

Cultural knowledge is a fundamental part of participating in intercultural communication. Our knowledge of the world – such as history, current issues, belief systems, and values – helps us navigate both the surface-level meaning of language and its cultural significance. Cultural knowledge allows us to participate in practices in social/cultural groups (e.g., knowing how to participate in the educational system or attending prayers). Without adequate or appropriate knowledge of the context, the message of our interlocutors remains incomplete, even if we comprehend the lexicon, grammar, or pragmatics accurately. This chapter explores different ways to organize knowledge that we need to learn for successful intercultural communication and how we develop this knowledge (i.e., sources of knowledge). At the end of the chapter, key concepts pertaining to cultural knowledge are connected to an intercultural communication-oriented pedagogy, with sample language-teaching activities.