Building Blocks for the Critique of Pure Reason: a priori vs. a posteriori cognition.
September 22, 2007
A very brief post, drawing out something implicit in the preceding one. There we saw that Kant allows for at least two distinct sources and types of knowledge.
The first – knowledge which can be adequately rooted in experience – is characterised by the fact that its truths are contingent, specific, and falsifiable. The justification for such knowledge is a posteriori cognition: our experience of the world.
The second – knowledge which cannot be rooted in experience – is characterised by the fact that its truths are necessary, universal, and non-falsifiable. The justification for such knowledge is a priori cognition: we do not need to look to our experience of the world to know that it is true.
Advertisement
