Kant: Marrying Rationalism and Empiricism

"Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) is one of the most influential philosophers in the history of Western philosophy. His contributions to metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, and aesthetics have had a profound impact on almost every philosophical movement that followed him."

In epistemology, a priori propositions can be known independent of (prior to) experience, whereas a posteriori propositions can be known only on the basis of experience (after experience). Thus, the distinction between a priori and a posteriori corresponds roughly to the distinction between nonempirical and empirical knowledge.

The a priori / a posteriori distinction is applied to ways of knowing, propositions, arguments, and concepts. Because of its dependence upon verification by experience, the foundation for classifying a proposition as a posteriori is more easily grasped. An a priori concept can be acquired independently of experience, which may include, but is not necessarily confined to innate concepts.

In logic, a proposition is a statement, couched as a declarative sentence, that affirms or denies the predicate, and that is either true or false. An analytic proposition can variously be described as a proposition whose predicate concept is contained within its subject concept, a proposition that is true by definition, whose truth depends solely on the meaning of its terms, or a proposition that is made true solely by the conventions of language. Analytic propositions, because truth is built in by virtue of terminology, are all a priori in that they do not require experience. Conversely, a synthetic proposition is a proposition whose predicate concept is not contained in its subject concept. Thus, synthetic propositions are not true simply in virtue of their meaning, so their truth must be assessed on the basis of experience.

Kant, in Critique of Pure Reason, discussed the possible combinations of analytic versus synthetic with a priori versus a posteriori propositions, which would yield four possible combinations of propositions:
1. analytic a priori: according to Kant, all analytic propositions are a priori.
2. synthetic a priori: Kant maintains that all important metaphysical knowledge is of synthetic a priori propositions
3. analytic a posteriori Kant argues that there are NONE, because analytic indicates a priori.
4. synthetic a posteriori knowledge of the truth value of such propositions depends on experience.

http://www.iep.utm.edu/kantmeta/
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/kant-development/
Critique of Pure Reason online
http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/4280

This is a mirror of a video that was originally uploaded by LennyBound. Because his channel has two strikes, he has suggested that his videos be mirrored because he is concerned that his videos might be lost if his channel suffers another hit.
http://www.youtube.com/user/LennyBound

"This clip describes Immanuel Kant's great synthesis of the rationalist and empiricist philosophical traditions. Kant famously stated "Percepts without concepts are empty; concepts without percepts are blind." Kant argues that our experience of reality is not merely passive, but rather that the mind actively structures how we encounter the world.

The clip then explains the difference between analytic/synthetic judgments and a priori/a posteriori judgments. It then closes with a brief description of Kant's deontological ethical theory, and his critique of metaphysics."

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[LowestOftheDead]

Although I appreciate Kant's brilliant contribution, I cannot help but conclude that his philosophy is ultimately untenable. I believe both rationalism and empiricism were probably overreactions to scholasticism, whose primary flaw was its natural teleology. Positing the real existence of universals as predicate qualities of the material universe allows us to neatly sidestep the conceptual problems that the rationalists and empiricists grappled with.

[EvolvedAtheist]

@LowestOftheDead

How was empiricism an "overreaction to scholasticism"? I thought that it was a reaction to rationalism.

[TheBlackWhirlwind]

Thanks for the upload, I am have touched very superficially on Kant's general philosophy, and I am interested in reading Kant's 'A Critique of Pure Reason'. I do deny that some it boggles the mind and is hard to understand, but interesting none the less. I am particularly interested in his views on deontology. On the other hand I am also interested in reading some Hume, but it's all a bit of a head mash, so you've got to begin somewhere.

[EvolvedAtheist]

Equivocation is a fallacy of logic. You are conflating the action of "synthesizing" with the "synthetic" in synthetic proposition.

The first is a mechanism that is irrelevant to perception of sensory experiences except in the sense that our brains reconstruct sensory input into conscious perceptions. The second is a semantic distinction between conceptualizations.

You are confusing neurophysiology with logic.

[EvolvedAtheist]

// Since there's the experience of reasoning a priori //

"Experience of reasoning"? Odd way to put it. You reason (not an "experience") like a theist. "Semantic" twists that are intended to make your assumptions valid.

Epistemic understandings are, by definition, the "product" of human minds.

// Simply read Prolegomena. //

That is where Kant makes the distinction between a posteriori (dependent on experience) and a priori (independent of experience).

I suggest that you read it again.

[Drregaleagle]

Since there's the experience of reasoning a priori that is not the case for practical matters.

Sensory experiences are synthesized and perceived. While analytic judgments tell you they're perceived, synthetic judgments tell me they're synthesized quite often. You confuse analytic with synthetic judgments.

A priori reasoning is necessary for experience. This is a cornerstone of Kant's philosophy. Simply read Prolegomena.

[EvolvedAtheist]

// from experience ... we synthesize sensory experiences ... create terms and definitions ... reason a priori //

First, we don't synthesize sensory experiences, we perceive them.

Second, a priori reasoning, by definition, if you'll excuse the irony and the frustrated caps, is INDEPENDENT of EXPERIENCE.

I suggest that you try reasoning FROM facts and definitions.

[Drregaleagle]

@EvolvedAtheist,

I wasn't arguing about the definitions of deduction and induction. My litmus test example was reasonable. I was getting to the fact that they're complementary. The Critique of Pure Reason's primary merit is to point out that knowledge based on definitions alone derives from experience. It is from experience that we synthesize sensory experiences to create terms and definitions from which one can reason a priori.

[mp4401]

Guyer is my favourite Kant scholar; he's so comprehensive and takes a sort of linguistic and historical approach. He's very hard to read but in a sense, so is Kant!

I'm not so sure that Kant's moral theory was well described here, but that wasn't the main part of the video.

[EvolvedAtheist]

@Drregaleagle

You said that you don't want to be "a philosopher for its own futile sake."

I think that philosophy has its uses, particularly in analysis, framing questions correctly, and providing a sub-structure for logical thought. However, for those clarifications to be effective, those who discuss philosophy and logic ought to get their facts (definitions, rules) straight.

Why don't you go off and learn what you are trying to talk about? Try "plato stanford edu", etc.