Phil 206 Final: Kant

Front 1

How does Kant draw the analytic/synthetic distinction?

Back 1

• Analytic: merely unpack the meaning; explicative
o One that the subject contains the predicate
o If you can prove the judgment just from the
subject’s definition and logic
o True in virtue of the meanings of the word

• Synthetic: forges a new connection; adds new knowledge
o Since you can’t merely unpack the content of
the subject, you have to forge a new
connection between the subject and the
predicate

• Leibnitz thinks that all judgments are analytic

Front 2

Why does the analytic/synthetic distinction matter for Kant’s project?

Back 2

• Kant is interested in judgment and the sources of it

• Wants to show Hume that he is wrong about the subjectivity of science and that he didn’t look deep enough into the inner truth of causation that goes beyond the senses

• Kant thinks that Hume’s problem is that judgments can only be synthetic a posteriori or analytic a priori
o Needs to differentiate between source and
content
o By recognizing an object have four different
options for judgment: synthetic, analytic, a
priori, and a posteriori
o Hume had not make enough distinction
between matters of fact and relations of idea

Front 3

How does he argue that pure mathematical judgments are synthetic a priori?

Back 3

• When you judge that 7 + 5 = 12, you are thinking about two concepts: sum of 7 and 5 and 12

• When you connect both of these concepts, you are constructing a new connection so this is synthetic

• You do this by starting with the intuition of 7 and the intuition of 5 and then judging their sum
o You erase their boundaries and form a new
entity, which is 12
o You have arrived at a new intuition/unification
o We can do all concrete mathematical
operations in our head without input from the
senses
• Goes against the default from Hume that mathematics is analytic
o You can never find 12 in 7 and 5

Front 4

What does Kant mean by intuition?

Back 4

• Immediate representations of the object through the senses

Front 5

What is a pure intuition? How are they possible?

Back 5

• Representation of objects from the form of sensibility

• Intuitions of the form of sensibility

• Intuitions of space and time

Front 6

What is the form of sensibility?

Back 6

• The form of sensibility is involved the receptivity of the senses

• A faculty of that mind that gives form to raw, formless data from the senses

• It is a passive process

• In between the data and sense impressions, our minds projects the form of sensibility to the data; projects space and time

• Raw data never reaches the brain

• We can never step out of the form of sensibility

• We can never know the world outside of the form of sensibility (transcendental idealism)

Front 7

How are space and time involved?

Back 7

• Space and time are the two forms of sensibility

Front 8

What is pure mathematics about?

Back 8

• Pure mathematics is about the form of sensibility

• Synthetic a priori

• Pure mathematics is about space and time

Front 9

How does Kant argue that pure mathematics is possible?

Back 9

• Mathematical knowledge comes from the form of sensibility

• Synthetic a priori is possible
o The notion of a pure intuition is synthetic
because we are bringing together new
experiences
o A priori in that it’s pure so it’s happening
through the form of sensibility so there is the
contribution of the mind

• Arithmetic is about time
o Counting is the consciousness of the flow of
time
o Addition of units in time
o We have uniformity of time because we know
mathematics

• Geometry is about space

Front 10

What is a transcendental argument?

Back 10

1) Take a feature of life that is taken to be indubitable (e.g. math is known)

2) How is that possible?

3) Concludes that our minds must be constituted/built in a particular way so that 1) is possible (e.g. the mind has the form of sensibility)

Front 11

What is transcendental idealism, and how does Kant argue for it?

Back 11

• The idealist believes that there are only things in the mind

• Explains the limits of our knowledge and it is our salvation when it comes to explaining our knowledge

• It is transcendental because there are objects outside of the mind
o These objects transcend our ability to know the
world

• This must be true because it explains the features of our experience that we take for granted

• If we didn’t believe in transcendental idealism, we could explain our knowledge of math or science

• We know the world as it appears to us
o There is a gap between appearance and reality and we can never bridge that gap

Front 12

What does Kant mean by “experience”?

Back 12

• Experience, when thought of, has a conceptualization

• Experience is always in words

• Product of our senses and our understanding

• Kant always talks about experience as thought of experience

• Experience is the product of all intuition filtered through the form of sensibility (the entire flowchart)

Front 13

How does Kant distinguish between judgments of perception and judgments of experience?

Back 13

• Judgment of perception are subjectively valid because combine empirical judgments
o The apple is green

• Judgments of experience apply pure concept of the understanding to judgments of perception
o These have intersubjective validity

Front 14

What is the difference between objectivity and intersubjectivity, and why does Kant think we should focus on securing just the latter in science?

Back 14

• Intersubjectively valid when all agree but could be the other way

• Intersubjectivity is as close to objectivity as we can get because we all have the same structure of mind
o We all have the same biases
o The nature of the bias is that we all have the
same form of sensibility and the pure concepts
of the understanding

• Objectivity demands God’s eye point of view
o An unbiased point of view but none of us can
have that

• We only need intersubjectivity in science because that means we can create universally valid laws of nature, doesn’t matter if they’re true or not

Front 15

What is Kant’s “Copernican Revolution”?

Back 15

• When we have pure intuitions, the object is not object outside the mind but a form of sensibility, which is inside of our mind

• Science revolves around us in that it is given validity because of the form of sensibility and pure concepts of the understanding

Front 16

What are pure concepts of the understanding, and how do they get added to intuition to form experience?

Back 16

• Bring logical form to intuitions

• Causation is added a priori

• Concept is a formula in that membership needs to follow its definitions
o Concepts require definition

• Pure concepts of the understanding have what definition?
o Concepts are collections of lots of different
particulars that have a commonality
o Every concept has to have a definition, the
pure concepts have as their definition the
logical forms of judgment
o The logical forms of judgments provide the
pure concepts of the understanding

• All intuition are linked to together to form a thought, they pure concepts are added by way of fusing intuitions

Front 17

How are the logical forms of judgment related to the pure concepts of the understanding?

Back 17

• Bring logical form to intuitions

• Causation is added a priori

• Concept is a formula in that membership needs to follow its definitions
o Concepts require definition

• Pure concepts of the understanding have what definition?
o Concepts are collections of lots of different
particulars that have a commonality
o Every concept has to have a definition, the
pure concepts have as their definition the
logical forms of judgment
o The logical forms of judgments provide the
pure concepts of the understanding

• All intuition are linked to together to form a thought, they pure concepts are added by way of fusing intuitions

Front 18

How does Kant answer Hume’s problem for causation?

Back 18

• Hume said that we learned about causation from habit

• Kant says that causation is part of our experience

• We all perceive causation because of the logical forms of judgment