Kant’s Philosophy: Unifying Rationalism and Empiricism for Knowledge and Freedom
CONCEPTS
Pure or Theoretical
Concepts empty of empirical axioms, giving rise to knowledge through reasoning. A self-evident proposition needs no proof.
Saber
Knowledge acquired through sensations (perceived) to create concepts and link them, forming judgments. Knowledge is a system of trial.
Tautological
Self-evident; saying the same thing. A tautological trial where the subject and predicate are identical.
Synthesis
Unifying and formalizing materials; implementing methods. Synthesizing successive levels: unifying and reducing the plurality of the sensible.
Postulate
A proposition not obvious or proven but necessary for a demonstration.
Theorem
A statement proven based on axioms.
Transcendental
Independent of experience but the operating condition before it. It’s the set of conditions providing the reason for experience; a study of how knowledge gives us reason.
Objective Understanding
The ability to formulate concepts and make judgments (Transcendental Analytic).
Sensitivity
Discussed in Transcendental Aesthetic.
Transcendental Aesthetic
Studies the a priori forms of sensibility.
Phenomenon
The known aspect of a thing (what I know).
Noumenon
The thing-in-itself, inherently unknowable.
Transcendental Analytic
A priori analysis of forms contributing to judgments through concepts.
Transcendental Dialectic
Conducting trials through reasoning; the study of ideas of reason in science (may not be a priori).
Reason
The sum of all faculties of knowledge; constitutive of science.
Introduction: Kant and Philosophical Rationalism
A) Reason as the sole valid source of knowledge: Scientific validity derives from reason, independent of experience.
B) Innateness of ideas: Understanding is the source of fundamental principles, not in the Platonic sense of ideas from a previous existence, but as inherent to reason and refined by experience.
C) Aspiration to a universal, rational philosophy or science, valid for all people and aspects of reality, making man the ruler of nature.
D) Mathematical procedures as a model for scientific knowledge. The method of mathematics, deriving theorems from axioms, serves as a universal model for natural science and philosophy.
Empiricism
Seventeenth and eighteenth-century empiricists emphasized analyzing knowledge and methods before investigation to determine possibilities and limits. Science became a model for philosophical inquiry, with rationalists and empiricists aiming to establish a new order of reality based on a knowledge model beyond naive realism.
Kantian Motivation and Objective: The Task of Philosophy
Kant’s thought attempts to synthesize rationalism and empiricism. The task of philosophy is twofold:
- Resolve irreconcilable positions on reason (dogmatism, empiricism, irrationalism).
- Achieve freedom, not as subjective, but as action directed towards a new social order and a freer humanity.
Philosophy should answer four questions:
- What can I know? (Problem of knowledge, addressed in Critique of Pure Reason).
- What should I do? (Problem of ethics, addressed in Critique of Practical Reason).
- What can I hope for? (Problem of religion, destiny, and realization).
- What is man? (Encompasses previous questions; Kantian philosophy as a rational classification serving a freer humanity).
Philosophy is the science of the relation of all knowledge to the essential ends of reason.
Practical and Theoretical Use of Reason
Reason is the essence of pure reason, setting principles for knowledge (theoretical use) and behavior (practical use).
Pure reason has two uses:
- Theoretical use: Reason for knowing, establishing principles governing knowledge, leading to understanding and explanation (science). Addressed in Critique of Pure Reason; answers What can I know?
- Practical use: Reason for acting, setting laws regulating behavior. Addressed in Critique of Practical Reason; answers What should I do?