Immanuel Kant

Transcendental Philosophy of Immanuel Kant

Biography

  • German philosopher, born in Königsberg, April 22, 1724 (East Prussia, now Kaliningrad).

  • Died on February 17, 1804.

  • Never traveled more than 20 km from his city and never saw the sea.

  • Unmarried.

  • Made significant changes in human thought across various fields:

    • Theology

    • Knowledge

    • Ethics

    • Metaphysics

    • Religion

    • Aesthetics

Motto: "Sapere aude" (Dare to use your own reason!)

Philosophical Doctrine: Criticism - does not accept opinions without examination through reason (Vernunft).

Important Questions

  1. Was kann ich wissen? (What can I know?) – Metaphysics

  2. Was soll ich tun? (What should I do?) – Ethics

  3. Was darf ich warten? (What can I hope for?) – Religion

  4. Was ist der Mensch? (What is man?) – Anthropology

Important Works

  • Critique of Pure Reason (1781)

  • Critique of Practical Reason (1788)

  • Critique of Judgment (1790)

  • The Metaphysics of Morals (1797)

Transcendental Philosophy

  • Main Project: Examines the a priori conditions that make knowledge possible.

    • A Priori: A term used in philosophy to describe knowledge that is independent of experience. It refers to principles or judgments that are known or can be understood without the need for empirical evidence

  • Questions the a priori (transcendental) conditions compared to the epistemological (empirical) processes of Hume.

  • Focuses on the structure within the subject's mind that permits knowledge.

Research Objects

  • A priori structures within the subject.

  • Interaction between objects and thoughts (epistemology).

Epistemological vs. Transcendental Questions

  • Epistemological Questions: Examines the process through which knowledge occurs (Entstehen der Erfahrung).

  • Transcendental Questions: Examines the possibility of knowledge (die Möglichkeit der Erfahrung). Seeks to discover the a priori structures within the subject.

Key Terms

  • Transcendent: Exceeding sensory experience; God as a transcendent object.

  • Transcendental: Enabling sensory experience.

  • A posteriori: Obtained through experience.

  • A priori: Preceding experience; principles underlying experience.

  • Categories: A priori concepts underlying thought.

  • Noumena vs. Phenomena:

    • Noumena: Things-in-themselves.

    • Phenomena: Objects as captured by the senses.

Metaphysics According to Kant

  • Definition: A priori principles of knowledge.

  • Aims to provide a new foundation for metaphysics to become a science.

  • Knowledge: Defined as empirical experience.

  • Science: Certain statements that generally hold true.

  • Pure Reason: Knowledge that does not involve empirical experience; a priori knowledge.

Why Transcendental Philosophy?

  • Objective: Applying methods of natural science and mathematics to metaphysics.

  • Resembles Newton's natural science methods based on experience.

  • Metaphysics has not yet been organized as a science; referred to as a "field of endless struggle."

Transcendental Deduction

  • Transcendental Deduction explains how we understand objects of experience.

  • Knowledge involves active synthesis by the mind, not just passive reception of sensory data.

  • It shows that certain concepts (categories) are necessary for making sense of experiences.

  • These a priori concepts, like causality, are valid for all human experience.

  • It highlights the active role of the mind in shaping knowledge.

  • Positions Kant as a key figure in epistemology.

Research on the A Priori

  • Searching for a definite method to make metaphysics a science.

  • Important question: How is the possibility of knowledge created, specifically "a priori synthetic judgments?"

  • Investigative starting point: "How are a priori synthetic judgments possible?"

Objectives of Transcendental Philosophy

  • Provide transcendental knowledge: "A priori knowledge regarding the a priori conditions of the possibility of knowledge."

Three Types of Judgments

  1. Analytical Judgment:

    • Does not add information, merely makes explicit what is already there.

    • Example: "A bachelor is an unmarried man."

  2. Synthetic Judgment:

    • Adds information based on experience (synthetic a posteriori).

    • Example: "This room is cold."

  3. Synthetic a Priori Judgment:

    • Forms the basis of science, universal, and without experience.

    • Example: "Every event has a cause."

A Priori Categories

  • Existence of synthetic a priori judgments proves the a priori structure within the subject.

  • A priori structures examined include:

    • Space and Time

    • 12 transcendental categories

    • "I transcendental"

Space and Time

  • Form a priori conditions of experience; objects given through pure intuition.

  • Forms of thought (not empirical concepts).

Categories of Understanding

  • Organizes knowledge based on Aristotelian logical categories:

    • Quantity: Unity, Plurality, Totality.

    • Quality: Reality, Negation, Limitation.

    • Relation: Inherent and Subsistent, Causality, Reciprocity.

    • Modality: Possibility, Impossibility, Necessity.

  • This categorization becomes the way we understand phenomena.

Understanding Knowledge

  • Transcendental categories synthesize sensory data to produce knowledge.

  • Concept that the subject determines the object - "Copernican Revolution."

  • Knowledge results from the synthesis of intuition and categories.

"I Transcendental"

  • The synthesis between intuition and transcendental categories is the key to knowledge.

  • "I think" must connect all representations to become knowledge.

Conclusion

  • The process of knowledge begins with the objects given, processed through the categories of Space and Time.

  • Knowledge is the result of synthesizing experience, processed through a priori categories.