Kant’s Philosophy: Knowledge, Reason, and Ethics
1 – Overcoming Empiricism and Rationalism
Kant, a philosopher of reason, though not strictly a rationalist, sought to bridge the gap between empiricism and rationalism. He aimed to overcome the antagonism between these positions by incorporating their strengths. Rationalism posits that the mind possesses universal, innate content prior to experience, while empiricism emphasizes that all knowledge originates from experience.
2 – Kantian Critique
For Kant, philosophy’s central task is to investigate the limits of human reason. His approach, known as Criticism and Transcendental Idealism, involves a critical examination of reason’s capacity to solve problems. This study focuses on the Critique of Pure Reason.
Uses of Reason
- Theoretical Reason: Seeks to understand the nature of being and formulate laws.
- Practical Reason: Concerned with moral duty and imperatives.
- Pure Reason: Aims to grasp the unconditional and create transcendental ideas.
3 – The Justification of Science: Judgments
Kant uses Newton’s physics as an example of established knowledge. He argues that science progresses through a sequence of judgments.
Classification of Judgments
- 1 – Analytic: The predicate is contained within the subject (e.g., “All bachelors are unmarried”). These are explicative.
- 2 – Synthetic: The predicate is not contained within the subject (e.g., “The table is brown”). These are ampliative and divided into:
- a) A Posteriori: Derived from experience, ampliative, but not necessarily universal or necessary.
- b) A Priori: Not derived from experience, ampliative, universal, and necessary.
4 – Theory of Knowledge
Kant distinguishes between:
- Sensitivity: The ability to receive impressions of objects.
- Understanding: The ability to think about objects, always based on sensory input.
- Reason: The ability to connect judgments to reach ultimate conclusions.
A) Sensible Knowledge: Transcendental Aesthetic
We know things as they appear to our senses, not as they are in themselves. This is the phenomenon.
Pure Forms: Space and Time
To organize data and construct phenomena, we need a subject and a priori forms: space and time.
- Space: The pure a priori form of external sensibility, enabling us to represent external objects.
- Time: The pure a priori form of internal sensibility, allowing us to order our experiences.
Knowledge of Objects
“There is no knowledge that can go beyond phenomena.” We only know things as they appear to us through a priori forms. The object conforms to our way of knowing; the thing-in-itself remains unknown.
The Possibility of Mathematics as a Science
Mathematics is possible because it relies on a priori synthetic judgments based on space and time. Space enables geometry, and time enables arithmetic.
B) Intellectual Knowledge: Transcendental Analytic
This concerns thinking about objects, unifying the plurality of phenomena through concepts. The understanding organizes phenomena, making physics possible as a science.
Pure Concepts or Categories
A priori concepts, or categories, are spontaneous and not derived from experience. They are essential for intellectual knowledge and apply only to experience, not to noumena (things-in-themselves).
The Possibility of Physics as a Science
Physics is justified as a science because its judgments are synthetic a priori, predicting how objects behave in nature. Categories provide the universal and necessary character for scientific knowledge.
C) The Field of Reason: Transcendental Dialectic
Reason unifies the knowledge of understanding, seeking the unconditioned through pure concepts.
The Three Ideas of Reason: Soul, World, and God
Transcendental ideas (soul, world, God) are a priori concepts unrelated to experience. We speak of them as if they were objects.
Failure of Metaphysics as Science
Metaphysics attempts to go beyond experience, leading to errors.
Errors of Metaphysics
- No distinction between phenomenon and noumenon.
- Incorrect application of categories to noumena instead of phenomena.
- Claiming knowledge of noumena, which are not empirically accessible.
Metaphysics fails to meet these requirements:
- Idea of “Self”: We experience feelings, but the unified self is a construct of reason. This is rational psychology.
- Idea of “World”: We experience phenomena, but not the world as a unified whole. This is rational cosmology.
- Idea of “God”: We have no sensory experience of God, as God is pure spirit. This is rational theology.
5 – Ethics (Practical Use of Reason)
Ethics explores how we ought to act, driven by our tendency toward the unconditional.
Differences Between: Formal and Material Ethics
- Material Ethics: Establish specific purposes, are hypothetical and conditional, and view actions as means to ends. Enforcement has no legal value. They are heteronomous (standards come from elsewhere) and a posteriori (standards based on experience).
- Formal Ethics: Do not set specific purposes, are unconditional and universally binding, and view actions as ends in themselves. Compliance has legal and moral value. They are autonomous (standards come from within) and a priori (standards based on reason).
Responsibility and Goodwill
Responsibility:
- Acting from Duty: Doing what is right solely out of respect for the moral law. This is morally good.
- Acting in Accordance with Duty: Doing what is right, but motivated by inclination. This is legally right but lacks moral value.
- Acting Contrary to Duty: Doing what is wrong. This is morally bad.