Discussion Post

  Discussion Post     For the final part of the unit on Epistemology, we will consider Kant’s “synthesis” of the empiricist and rationalist struggle over the relative superiority of reason or experience to validate/prove/provide knowledge. First stage (try to finish up by Thursday). Let′s explore why the concept of ″synthetic a priori″ judgements is so important to Kant. Be sure that you ″get″ what Kant means by ″synthetic a priori judgments″--in particular his claim that ″Natural science contains within itself synthetic a priori judgements as principles”-- so be sure to be able to explain just what the concept means, and why it is that Kant’s argument ‘solves’ the problem that Hume saw. Make sure that you figure out what Kant’s ‘categories’ are too… It might be helpful for you to fill out this table (but you can also just tackle the question on your ‘own’--basically the table contains the terms you’d need to consider to answer the question: ‘what does Kant mean by synthetic a priori’ and why is this important?. Knowledge is divided into two categories (expand on the terms provided) A) Analytic vs Synthetic B) A Posteriori vs A priori The mind is/not a ‘blank slate’ The source of knowledge is… What is ‘knowable’? (‘real’ world vs ‘perception’) Categories of understanding mean/do what? Second Prompt (This assesses your knowledge of GLO 2a, 2b and 4c. You must receive a proficiency score of 3 to ′pass′ this unit. If you do not receive 3, you must revise) . Let′s examine how synthetic a priori propositions allow us to rely upon knowledge created from something other than our OWN ″empirical″ experience. Test this out by developing your own example of how this would work-- in which we are able to ″know″ that something is true without having to prove, through experience, every single step of the way in making our judgment. In other words, if Kant is right, the synthetic a priori process allows us to combine experience with a priori knowledge to come to conclusions in the areas of mathematics, the sciences, how we ″know″ the world around us, etc. So how do you do that (if in fact you do)? Again, feel free to use your own experiences or use an example from a film, a novel, etc. of a character who works through this process...Due by Sunday Sep 24