ThePhilosophyofImmanuelKant(Part1):KantsTheoreticalPhilosophyPart1

Dr.JasonRheins1Hr30min

Born1724
EastPrussia
1781CritiqueofPureReasonispublished
Priortothis,twomajorcampswereempiricistsandrationalists
Goodideasdontjustfallintophilosophersheadsandneitherdobadideas
Needtounderstandhowthisphilosophycouldhavecomeaboutandhowitcouldspreadso
quickly
Seewheretheendproductcamefromandnotjusttheendproduct
Whataretheoriginsofknowledge?
Descartesofferedanswer[aprioriideas]
Wasthefirstgreatrationalist
Therewerecertaininnateideasimbeddedinourmindthatwereselfevident
Wecandeducevariousconclusionsfromtheseinnateideas
FrancisBaconstarts,JohnLockecontinues
Empiricists
Wearenotbornwithinnateideas,aretabularasa
Onlybyobservationcanwecometolearnknowledge
Rationalistsfocusedonconceptsasthebaseofknowledgewhileempiricistsfocusedonwhat
theycalledimpressionsorsimpleideas
Impressionsarelittlebitsofsensation[Lockesepistemologyofcontextomission]
Judgment:SayinganSisaP.Alsoaproposition.
Rationalistssawanalyticjudgmentsasthebaseofknowledgebecausetheystartfrom
conceptsandtrytounderstandwhatisintheconcept
Analytictruthistruebyvirtueofitsdefinition
Bachelorisanunmarriedman
Theonlyinfoyoucangetiswhatyoualreadyknowabouttheconcept
Leibnitz>ifyouweregodyouwouldknoweverythingabouteveryconcept
Ourproblemisthatweonlyhaveaccesstocertainpartsoftheconcepts
Empiricistsstartwithsyntheticjudgmentsbecausetheystartfromsensations
Bachelorsarepitiable
Asynthesisofnewinformationwiththeconcept
Welearnnewthingsaboutconceptsfromobservationsandputthemtogetherinto
ajudgment
Theproblemisthatexperienceisnotdecisiveenough
TomorrowImaymeetabachelorthatisnotpitiable
Hume(born1711)emphasizesthislackofdecisiveness
Anyexperiencecouldbefollowedbyanyother
Mattersoffactaregoingtobeuncertain
Getanagreementbetweentwocampsthatknowledgecanbecertainonlyifitsabout
thingswealreadyknow,butifithastorelyonexperience,thenjustforthatitsuncertain.

ThePhilosophyofImmanuelKant(Part1):KantsTheoreticalPhilosophyPart1
Dr.JasonRheins1Hr30min

Kantseessynthesiseverywhere
Thesumoftheanglesofatriangleisequaltothesumoftworightangles
Kantsaysthatbecauseyoucanprovethisbyothermeans,thereissomethingelsethatlets
usputtogethertheideathattworightanglesequalatriangle
2+3=5
Thisisnotjustanidentitystatement
Ananalyticstatementiswhenthepredicateiscontainedinthesubjectsconcept
2doesnttellyouabouttherulesofaddition
Wehavetoholdinmindcertainthings,thattheunitsarecommensurable,thattheycanbe
compared,understandingwhatkindofcomparison=is.
Theoperationisnotinthepredicate
Itsbecausewecandothisinacertainwaythatweknowthisworks
Ifthereisatypeofknowledgethatyouknowpriortoexperience,itisapriori,butifyouknow
somethingbyexperienceitisaposteriori
Therearecertainthingsthatweknowaprioributareanalytic
Like2+3=5
Donthavetocheckiftwomelons+threemelons=fivemelonsANDcheckfor
applesANDcheckfororangesetc
Itsaprioriinthatsense,butanalyticinthesenseshownabove
Sohowdoweknowsyntheticaprioritruths?
Howcanwehavejudgmentsthatarebothinformative(synthetic)andareknowledge(because
theyreapriori)
Thisisbecauseempiricists/rationalistsleftuswiththedichotomyofknowledgeeitherbeing
knownbutnotinformativeorbeinginformativebutnotreallyknown
Q:wouldntitbeabigleapforwardifyoucouldvalidatesyntheticapriori?
Yes,absolutely
Weexperiencethingsinpredeterminedform
Thereisnowaytothinkaboutredapartfromspace
Thereisnowaytothinkaboutatonewithoutaduration
Therearecertainstructuralformsthatexistpriortoexperience
Ifwehavetheseformspriortoexperience,thenweknowthatthesevariousfurther
factswillfollow
Ex:Howdoweknowthatthreeanglesoftriangleadduptotheangleofonesideofa
line(180degrees)?
Wemustimaginethelinesinspaceandspacebringswithitcertainimbeddedrules
ThereareonlycertainwaysthatyoucanlayoutlinesinEuclideanspace
Thusthefactisasynthetictruthbutitisapriori
Therearecertainpreexperientialstructures

ThePhilosophyofImmanuelKant(Part1):KantsTheoreticalPhilosophyPart1
Dr.JasonRheins1Hr30min

Metaphor:weknowthatallKeeblercookiesarestarshaped.Thereforethereisastar
shapedcookiecutterthatmustcuteverycookieacertainwaybeforeitleavesthefactory
andgetstousinthestore.
Thepreexperientialstructuresarelikethecookiecutters
Ifwegetknowledgeofspacefromexperiencethenitwouldbeaposteriori
Butwedohaveknowledgeofmathematics,thereforeitmustcomefromacertain
source
Thenitcomesfromus.
Ifourmindshavecertaindefiniterules,thenanythingthatisinourmindshastobeacertain
way
Ifwetakeexperiencetobeaproductofconsciousness,itseasytoseehow
consciousnesssownrulesguaranteethatexperience(partofconsciousness)hascertain
necessaryfeatures.
Experienceisinconsciousnessandconsciousnesshascertainrules.Thereforeall
experiencehascertainmarksfromconsciousness
Copernicanrevolution:Ratherthanworryaboutwhetherifwhatsinourheadmatchesreality(the
standardsareexternal),weaskwhataretheconditionsthatexternalrealitymustmeetifthe
experienceisinourhead[primacyofconsciousness]
Ifweknowtherulesofwhatittakestobeconscious,wecanfigureoutcertainthingsabout
whatweregoingtoobserve
Analogy:ifweholdupredcellophaneinourface,everythingweseewillbered
Wecanaskifwhatsbeyondthecellophaneisred,butKantsaysstopworryingaboutthe
worldapartfromthecellophane.Thecellophaneisthere.
Theverynaturebywhichormindsoperatecantbepulledawaylikecellophane,itsjustthe
wayconsciousnessworks.
Thereforeyoucanneverseethingsotherwise.[!]
Thatwhichmaybetrueoftheobjectbutwhichwecanneverknowisthenoumenal
world
Thatwhichappearstousisthephenomenalworld
Callsthemetaphysicalsystemtranscendentalidealism
Transcendentbecausethereisaworldbeyondexperience
Idealismbecauseweacceptthatwhatweareacquaintedwithisconsciousness,
Experiencesaremental