Immanuel Kant Knowledge Is Both Rational and Empirical
Marques Harvey
PHIL 201
9/25/14
Immanuel Kant: Knowledge Is Both Rational and Empirical Immanuel Kant was renowned German philosopher who sought to reconcile the Continental rational philosophies with those of the British empirical philosophers. The rationalist philosophers, such as Descartes, believed that the fundamental source of all knowledge was not simply observation, but that it was a priori, which is independent of experience. It’s different from a posteriori, which is known as experiential knowledge. The British claimed that was the source of all knowledge. Kant wanted to merge both viewpoints. A posteriori knowledge is strictly dependent, and the truth of statements depends on particular conditions at a set time. A priori knowledge is always considered to be true. A priori judgments are called analytic, while a posteriori judgments are considered to be synthetic. According to Kant, a third type of judgment, synthetic a priori. These judgments are necessary and also have an empirical element. Kant believes in saying: “Everything has a cause.” As a result of these differences, Kant created a debate that still continues to this very day. There can be no doubt that all our knowledge begins with experience. Though knowledge begins with experience, it does not follow that it all arises out of experience. For it may well be that even our empirical knowledge is made up of what we receive through impressions and what our own faculty of knowledge supplies from itself. Such knowledge is entitled a priori, and distinguished from the empirical, which has its sources a posteriori, that is, in experience. The expression “a priori” does not, however, require with necessary means to the question. A priori knowledge is independent of all experience. It’s opposite to empirical knowledge. It’s also important to know how to distinguish the difference between pure and empirical knowledge. A question that has the soundness of a necessary judgment is called an a priori
PHIL 201
9/25/14
Immanuel Kant: Knowledge Is Both Rational and Empirical Immanuel Kant was renowned German philosopher who sought to reconcile the Continental rational philosophies with those of the British empirical philosophers. The rationalist philosophers, such as Descartes, believed that the fundamental source of all knowledge was not simply observation, but that it was a priori, which is independent of experience. It’s different from a posteriori, which is known as experiential knowledge. The British claimed that was the source of all knowledge. Kant wanted to merge both viewpoints. A posteriori knowledge is strictly dependent, and the truth of statements depends on particular conditions at a set time. A priori knowledge is always considered to be true. A priori judgments are called analytic, while a posteriori judgments are considered to be synthetic. According to Kant, a third type of judgment, synthetic a priori. These judgments are necessary and also have an empirical element. Kant believes in saying: “Everything has a cause.” As a result of these differences, Kant created a debate that still continues to this very day. There can be no doubt that all our knowledge begins with experience. Though knowledge begins with experience, it does not follow that it all arises out of experience. For it may well be that even our empirical knowledge is made up of what we receive through impressions and what our own faculty of knowledge supplies from itself. Such knowledge is entitled a priori, and distinguished from the empirical, which has its sources a posteriori, that is, in experience. The expression “a priori” does not, however, require with necessary means to the question. A priori knowledge is independent of all experience. It’s opposite to empirical knowledge. It’s also important to know how to distinguish the difference between pure and empirical knowledge. A question that has the soundness of a necessary judgment is called an a priori