Immanuel Kant Metaphysics Old and New

1
Immanuel KantMetaphysics Old and
NewProlegomena

• Danielle Greene
• Maida Caoile
• Courtney Rodneborn

2
The Immanuel Kant SongSing Along!! D
3

• Let us first divide cognition into rational
  analysis?and sensory perception (which Descartes
  considered valueless). ?Now reason gives us
  concepts which are true but tautological?sensatio
  n gives us images whose content is phenomenal.

X
4

• Whatever greets our senses must exist in space
  and time?for else it would be nowhere and nowhen
  and therefore slime ?the space and time we
  presuppose before we sense reality?must have
  innate subjective transcendental ideality.

5

• Thus space and time?are forms of our
  perception?whereby sensation synthesized in
  orderly array
• ?the same must hold
• ?for rational conception
• ?in everything we think, the laws of logic must
  hold sway.

6

• But a problem here arises with respect to natural
  science
• ?while empirical in method, on pure thought it
  lays reliance.
• ?Although for Newton findings we to Newton give
  the glory
• ?Newton never could have found them if they weren
  known a priori.

7

• ?We know that nature governed is by principles
  immutable
• ?but how we come to know this is inherently
  inscrutable
• ?that thought requires logic is a standpoint
  unassailable
• ?but for objects of our senses explanations
  arent available.

8

• ?So let's attempt to vivisect cognition
• ?by critical analysis in hope that we may find
• ?the link between pure thought and intuition
• ?a deduction transcendental will shed light upon
  the mind.

9

• ?You may recall that space and time are forms of
  apprehension
• ?and therefore what we sense has spatiotemporal
  extension
• ?whatever is extended is composed of a plurality
• ?but through an act of synthesis we form a
  commonality.

10

• ?If we are to be conscious of a single concrete
  entity
• ?each part of its extension must be given
  independently
• ?combining in a transcendental apperceptive unity
• ?to which I may ascribe the term self-conscious
  with impunity.

11

• ?The order of our various sensations
• ?arises from connections not beheld in sense
  alone
• ?our self creates the rules of their relations
• ?and of this combination it is conscious as its
  own.

12

• ?While these rules correspond to scientific
  causal laws
• ?the question of their constancy remains to give
  us pause
• ?but once we recollect the source of our
  self-conscious mind,
• ?to this perverse dilemma a solution we may find.

13

• ?He self is nothing but its act of synthesis
  sublime
• ?this act must be the same to be self-conscious
  over time.
• ?The rules for combination of its selfhood form
  the ground
• ?so what we perceive tomorrow by todays laws must
  be bound.

14

• ?These constant laws?whereby we shape experience
• ?are simply those which regulate our reason that
  is plain.
• ?So don ask why?the stars display invariance
• ?the Cosmos is produced by your disoriented
  brain!

15
What This Means.

• Kant Believed that the mind makes the world, not
  the other way around.
• Reality is in our mind not in reality itself.
• Our Experience of reality is not merely passive,
  but rather the mind actively structures how we
  encounter the world
• He wrote a short work called Prolegomena to any
  future Metaphysics that will be able to present
  itself as a science.

16
Metaphysics

• Divided into 2 words
• Metabeyond
• Physics physical (That without you can know with
  the help of your senses)
• Together it Means Beyond the physical

17
Metaphysics Continued.

• Kant wrote that Metaphysics is a philosophical
  inquiry that goes beyond the physical sciences
  and asks very general questions about the nature
  of reality and the basic categories by without we
  are to understand it.

18
Existing
One of the preexisting distinction that Kant
affirmed was between

• A Posteriori Judgment
• Based on experience
• Ex. This car is red

• A Priori Judgments
• Based on reason
• Ex. 224

Analytic Judgment (Rationalism) Synthetic Judgment (Empiricism)
A Priori Doesnt tell us any knowledge 1.Containment 2.Identity 3.Contradiction 4.Universal 5.Necessary (logic) Math, geometry, abstract, physics, metaphysics tells you something about reality
A Posteriori none Cannot prove that God exists and doesnt exist -All existential claims are synthetic
19
Another Distinction Kant made was between.

• Analytic Judgment
• Already have a set Meaning
• Ex Bachelors are unmarried

• Synthetic Judgment
• Can have several conclusions
• Several Meanings
• Ex Coal Burns

Analytic Judgment Synthetic Judgment
-An already thought conception of a subject  -Principle of contradiction judgments are a priori  gold is a yellow metal- you dont have to think about that fact, it is already given to you -adds something to your conception  Can be either a priori or posteriori  - Confirms the principle of contradiction the law of truth            p can be expressed as not-p, or if p can be                   expressed as not q, then q is the contradictory              Ex p is 214, then 21? 4 is the contradictory of p, for 21?4 can be expressed as (214)               mutually contradictory propositions cannot be both true and cannot be both false   -Judgements of experience (pg 110) before the experience, you have all the judgments already present in the conception, then you make conclusion based on the principle of contradiction  -Mathematical judgments (pg. 110-111)  75 12 but you would never make the judgment or connection to 12 by just analyzing the number 7 and 5.        
20
Objections

• If the mind created reality, we would all
  experience a different reality, which isnt so
• David Hume would be the alternate to Kants
  philosophy.
• Empiricist
• Believed that we received knowledge from our
  senses and perceptions.
• David Hume says reality creates the mind
• He believed in limited skepticism-we are bound
  and determined by our experiences
• Targets 2 types of skepticism
• Radical Skepticism Its impossible to have
  radical doubt (like Descartes)
• Doubts about ordinary beliefs about the nature of
  the world around us.

21
Thank You For watching!

• Any Questions?