THE NATURE OF KNOWLEDGE ACCORDING TO KANT - PHILOSOPHY - 2025

The nature of knowledge according to Kant is fixed in reason. However, the philosopher points out that reason is not only concerned with knowledge, but also with action. That is why he referred to the first as a theoretical reason and the second as a practical reason.

The origin of Kant's reflection on knowledge lies in the question of whether metaphysics can be considered science or not. To answer the question, Kant subjected reason to criticism and its powers to offer us secure knowledge.

The philosophy that Kant studied was divided between rationalists and empiricists. According to the rationalists, knowledge could reach a universal and unlimited degree; For their part, the empiricists affirmed that knowledge is only achieved through data obtained from experience, conceiving knowledge as something changing, concrete and probable.

Neither the views of the rationalists nor that of the empiricists satisfied Kant's questions about the nature of knowledge. This led him to answer this question by synthesizing both currents.

In this sense, Kant points out: "Although all our knowledge begins with experience, not all of it comes from experience."

Sources and structure of knowledge

Kant's theory is based on distinguishing two basic sources of knowledge, which are sensitivity and understanding.

The sensibility

Sensitivity is based on receiving impressions and, therefore, is defined as a passive faculty or source of knowledge. In this the object of knowledge is given to the individual.

Understanding

The understanding (which Kant calls "spontaneity") is that source in which concepts do not derive from experience but are formed spontaneously. It is an active faculty in which the object of knowledge is thought by the subject.

In his Critique of Pure Reason Kant indicates: “Intuition and concepts constitute, therefore, the elements of all our knowledge; so that neither concepts without an intuition that somehow corresponds to them, nor intuition without concepts, can produce knowledge ».

Kant defends the idea that without experience there is no knowledge, but not all knowledge is experience. Kant affirmed that the subject who knows also contributes something in the generation of knowledge, since the human being not only limits his action to receive information, but also participates in the construction of his image of the world.

In this sense, Kant points out that the structure of knowledge is composed of two types of elements, an a priori and a posteriori element.

A priori element

This is independent of experience and, in some way, precedes it. The a priori element constitutes the "form" of knowledge. It is the structure of the subject that tries to know and in which it accommodates the information from the outside.

It is a necessary element; that is to say, it necessarily occurs this way and cannot be otherwise. Furthermore, it is universal: it always happens in the same way.

In Kantian doctrine this view is called "transcendental idealism." Idealism because knowledge can only be based on a priori elements, and transcendental because it deals with universal elements.

A priori element

This element is external or material and comes from experience through sensations. It is found outside the human mind, is the empirical of knowledge and constitutes the "matter" of knowledge.

Therefore, the elements of knowledge are the sensible and the logical-rational. This classification is collected in Kant's work as:

- "Transcendental aesthetics", in which he studies sensitivity.

- "Transcendental logic", in which it deals with logos. In this he distinguishes the analysis of the pure concepts (totality, plurality, necessity, unity, existence, reality, possibility, negation, reciprocity, limitation, cause, substance), which he calls transcendental analytics; and the reflection on reason, which Kant calls transcendental dialectic.

Theory of trials

According to Kantian doctrine, knowledge - and therefore science - is expressed in judgments or statements. So in order to know what knowledge is or whether it is universal - and also the science that derives from it - it is necessary to consider what kind of judgments make up knowledge.

For knowledge to be considered scientific, the judgments on which it is based must meet two requirements:

- Be extensive; in other words, they must contribute to increasing our knowledge.

- Be universal and necessary; that is, they must be valid for any circumstance and time.

In order to discern what the judgments of science are, Kant classifies the judgments according to two variables: the extension and the validity.

Extension

Considering the extent of the trial, these can be classified into:

Analytics

In these the predicate is contained in the subject and, therefore, they do not serve to expand our knowledge; they do not communicate anything new. Examples of this type of lawsuit are:

- The whole is greater than its parts.

- Singles are not married.

Synthetics

In this type of trial, the predicate provides information that we did not have before and that could not be extracted from the exclusive analysis of the subject. These are extensive judgments that contribute to broadening our knowledge. Examples of this type of lawsuit are:

- The line is the shortest distance between two points.

- All residents in town X are blond.

Validity

Taking into account the validity of the judgment, these can be classified into:

A priori

They are those judgments in which we do not need to resort to experience to know if they are true; its validity is universal. This is the case of "The whole is greater than its parts" or "Singles are not married."

A posteriori

In this type of trial it is necessary to resort to experience to verify its truth. "All residents of town X are blonde" would be a posteriori judgment, since we have no choice but to observe the individuals who live in town X to find out whether they are indeed blonde or not.

The combinations between these two classifications give rise to three types of judgments:

Synthetic a posteriori trials

They are extensible and are confirmed with experience.

Analytical judgments a priori

They do not extend our knowledge and do not require experience for their validation.

Post-hoc analytical judgments

They have universal validity and, according to Kant, are the proper judgments of scientific knowledge.

References

1. Navarro Cordón, J., & Pardo, J. (2009). History of Philosophy. Madrid: Anaya.
2. Immanuel Kant. On Wikipedia. Consulted on June 11, 2018, from en.wikipedia.org
3. Scruton, R. (2001). Kant: a very short introduction. Oxford University Press.
4. Doñate Asenjo, I. (2002). Introduction to Philosophy.: New Library.
5. The nature of knowledge according to Kant. In philosophy. Consulted on June 17, 2018, from philosophy.net