Immanuel Kant Metaphysics Old and New “ Prolegomena”

1. Immanuel KantMetaphysics Old and New“Prolegomena” 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;▪sensation 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 aren’t 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 • Meta=beyond • 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. A Priori Judgments Based on reason Ex. 2+2=4 A Posteriori Judgment Based on experience Ex. This car is red Existing One of the preexisting distinction that Kant affirmed was between…

19. Analytic Judgment Already have a set Meaning Ex: Bachelors are unmarried Synthetic Judgment Can have several conclusions Several Meanings Ex: Coal Burns Another Distinction Kant made was between….

20. Objections • If the mind created reality, we would all experience a different reality, which isn’t so • David Hume would be the alternate to Kant’s 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: It’s 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?