Transcendental Idealism
Immanuel Kant and Transcendental Idealism
David Hume shook the foundations of Epistemology and once again left philosophers baffled with where to turn next. The choices were either to agree with Descartes’ rationalism and accept solipsism or an appeal to a loving God, agree with Locke’s style of empiricism, Berkeley’s Epistemological approach, or simply concede that Hume’s extreme skepticism and ultimately solipsist view of knowledge was the most accurate.
However, Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) was able to develop a philosophical theory that would, once again, change the epistemological discussion. His theory of the mind and knowledge came to be known as Transcendental Idealism.
A Blend of Reason and Senses
Kant was compromising in the debate between the rationalists and empiricists. In fact, he argued that all humans take in imperfect and skewed sensory knowledge into their tabula rasa. This data is then transformed and allocated into the rational structures of the mind.
Ex: Think of a computer with no data but the hardware that is designed for a purpose. The processor processes the information that is input into signals that is understood by the computer alone. The concept of ‘Causality’ is hardwired into our brains and even though reality doesn’t act in causal relationships, we will always experience reality in that way.
Kant vs. Hume: Cause and Effect
Hume – we assume that cause and effect exist based on past experience but there is absolutely no reason to believe the future will resemble the past.
Kant – the sense impressions that we integrate are obviously transformed into shapes, solids, particular things that make noise. Our mind organizes the sensations and we cannot deny that! The mind cannot understand disorganized chaos so the mind creates cause and effect relations so that we can make sense of the impressions that we experience.
Read Kant’s explanation on page 346
Ultimately, if Kant’s Transcendental Idealism is correct then the world
David Hume shook the foundations of Epistemology and once again left philosophers baffled with where to turn next. The choices were either to agree with Descartes’ rationalism and accept solipsism or an appeal to a loving God, agree with Locke’s style of empiricism, Berkeley’s Epistemological approach, or simply concede that Hume’s extreme skepticism and ultimately solipsist view of knowledge was the most accurate.
However, Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) was able to develop a philosophical theory that would, once again, change the epistemological discussion. His theory of the mind and knowledge came to be known as Transcendental Idealism.
A Blend of Reason and Senses
Kant was compromising in the debate between the rationalists and empiricists. In fact, he argued that all humans take in imperfect and skewed sensory knowledge into their tabula rasa. This data is then transformed and allocated into the rational structures of the mind.
Ex: Think of a computer with no data but the hardware that is designed for a purpose. The processor processes the information that is input into signals that is understood by the computer alone. The concept of ‘Causality’ is hardwired into our brains and even though reality doesn’t act in causal relationships, we will always experience reality in that way.
Kant vs. Hume: Cause and Effect
Hume – we assume that cause and effect exist based on past experience but there is absolutely no reason to believe the future will resemble the past.
Kant – the sense impressions that we integrate are obviously transformed into shapes, solids, particular things that make noise. Our mind organizes the sensations and we cannot deny that! The mind cannot understand disorganized chaos so the mind creates cause and effect relations so that we can make sense of the impressions that we experience.
Read Kant’s explanation on page 346
Ultimately, if Kant’s Transcendental Idealism is correct then the world