Essential Kantian Philosophy: Key Concepts and Definitions
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Philosophy Dictionary: Analytical and Synthetic Judgments
Analytical Judgments
Also called analytic judgments, these are propositions where the predicate is included in the subject; therefore, they do not provide extra information. Example: "The triangle has three angles."
Synthetic Judgments
These propositions provide extra information beyond the subject. Example: "This evening is cold."
Knowledge Classifications
A Priori Knowledge
These are universal and necessary truths that do not rely on experience. Necessary propositions must be analytic, as they are independent of experience.
A Posteriori Knowledge
As the name suggests, these are contingent and particular, derived from experience. They correspond to synthetic propositions and require experience to be known.
Cognitive Faculties
Performances
The process of the self becoming conscious; identified with empirical intuition.
Understanding
The faculty that allows us to know an object (thought) through representations offered by sensitivity.
Reason
The faculty that relates various judgments to unify the knowledge provided by the understanding.
Core Philosophical Concepts
Empirical Knowledge
Knowledge wholly dependent on experience, derived through the process of abstraction and generalization (a posteriori).
Metaphysics
The study of behavior beyond what is given in experience (noumena). It does not apply categories to phenomena. Kant examines metaphysics in the Transcendental Dialectic to determine if it can be regarded as a science.
A Priori Elements
Principles or structures of knowledge that do not have an empirical origin but lie in the nature of reason itself.
A Priori Knowledge (Transcendental)
Universal and necessary knowledge that does not originate from experience but is required to understand it. Kant calls this transcendental, as it enables identification (e.g., space and time in Mathematics).
Experience
Refers to all that we perceive through our senses. Kant specifically calls this sensitivity, the source of our knowledge.
Categories
Pure concepts or perceptions that arise spontaneously from the understanding rather than from experience. These correspond to the synthetic concepts of physics and the judgments made about reality.
Skeptical Philosophy
The philosophical position that absolute knowledge is impossible, as nothing is based on experimentation.