Mitteilungen zur Logiknachschrift Volckmanns

Abstract This paper presents a comprehensive account of the rediscovered Logik-Volckmann, a hitherto unedited transcript of Kant’s logic lectures, written by Johann Wilhelm Volckmann between 1782 and 1783. The manuscript, preserved today in the Kant estate at the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences, is shown to derive from the same textual tradition as the Hechsel and Wiener notes, belonging to the so-called “Hoffmann-group” (Adickes). Through a detailed philological and codicological examination, the study reconstructs the provenance, transmission, and internal structure of the text, revealing its dependence on at least two earlier sources. The close parallels with V-Lo/Hechsel and V-Lo/Wiener confirm an early date of composition and thus connect the text with Kant’s lectures immediately following the publication of the Critique of Pure Reason (1781). Volckmann’s transcript preserves numerous formulations that anticipate or echo central distinctions of the Critique , such as that between the world-concept and the school-concept of philosophy. His compilation method illustrates how Kant’s students received, combined, and transmitted his evolving conception of logic. The paper therefore contributes to clarifying the formation of Kant’s logical corpus and the pedagogical mediation of his critical philosophy. It provides a solid textual and historical basis for future editorial and interpretative work on Kant’s lecture materials.