Kantian Epistemology: Experience and A Priori Knowledge

The Role of Experience in Kantian Epistemology

The notion of experience plays a fundamental role in the Kantian theory of knowledge. Kant agrees with the empiricists that experience is the starting point of knowledge. However, for him, necessity is not derived from it; that is, no knowledge becomes effective solely through experience.

Furthermore, "experience" appears in Kant as what makes knowledge possible. In his view, it is not possible to know anything that lies outside "possible experience." Since knowledge is also the world of appearance, the notion of "experience" is closely linked to the notion of appearance. Thus, the critique of reason examines the conditions of the possibility of experience.

Therefore, the examination of the a priori conditions of the possibility of experience determines how universal and necessary judgments about reality (as appearance) can be made, allowing for valid empirical judgments.

Kant's Copernican Revolution and A Priori Knowledge

Kant proposes a "Copernican Revolution" in knowledge. Previously, it was assumed that the subject must revolve around the object, which left many things unexplained. Kant argues that it is not the subject that adapts to experience to discover the laws of the object, but rather the object that adjusts, when known, to the laws imposed by the subject.

Thus, Kant argues that our sensible intuition is not regulated according to the nature of objects; instead, objects must be regulated in accordance with the nature of our intuitive faculty. Similarly, the intellect is not regulated by objects to extract concepts; rather, the reverse is true: objects, as they are intended, must conform to the concepts of the intellect and agree with them.

Defining A Priori Conditions

These a priori conditions are necessary to produce momentous scientific knowledge. All science is based on this content—universal and necessary conditions common to every subject that cannot be altered. For Kant, such a priori concepts and judgments must be thought of as a matter of universal and absolute necessity.

Kant also addresses the a priori concept in relation to the problem of dependency on experience. A priori knowledge is knowledge independent of experience, unlike a posteriori knowledge, which comes from experience. This independence from experience must be understood in an absolute way, not merely with respect to certain aspects or parts of experience.

• Knowledge is considered pure a priori when there is no mixing of empirical evidence.
• The a priori in Kant refers to what makes knowledge possible.

Thus, the Kantian a priori concept is neither metaphysical nor psychological, but epistemological (or "transcendental"). The problem Kant addresses in the Critique of Pure Reason (CRP) is not the origin of knowledge, but its validity or justification.