Kant's Solution to the Trilemma of Concept Formation

Abstract According to a widespread assumption, Kant's logical account of concept formation starts with comparison, where the latter involves concepts. On this assumption, the formation of a concept presupposes other concepts, so that the argument is threatened either by circularity, regress, or break‐off. In this paper, I argue that Kant did not hold the comparison‐first account that scholars typically attribute to him. Rather, he advocated an abstraction‐first account in which comparison is preceded by abstraction. Since the latter serves the generalization of marks and thus provides the general representations required for comparison, the abstraction‐first account does not run into the described trilemma.