The Problems of Philosophy - Chapter 8

(Originally written September 22, 2005 in Book 2)

The Problems of Philosophy
Bertrand Russell
1912

Chapter 8 - How a priori knowledge is possible

Kant is regarded as the greatest modern philosopher. His biggest contribution is 'critical' philosophy. 'Critical philosophy is "assuming as datum that there is knowledge of various kinds, inquired how such knowledge comes to be possible, and deduced" (Russell, 82). This question provided many metaphysical results of the nature of the world.

These metaphysical analyses can be debated; but, Kant does deserve credit for introducing a non-purely analytical a priori and for proving the importance of the theory of knowledge.

Analytic a priori are analytic because the predicate is obtained merely by analyzing the subject. i.e. A bald man (subject) is a man (predicate).

All a pirori before Kant were of this type.

Kant believed that all our experience was wrapped up in two elements:
1) the physical object
2) our own nature

Russell admits that he is in agreement here because knowledge of sense-data is based on a physical object and filtered through our own perception (the senses).

Kant believed that the physical object contains the sensation and through a priori knowledge we provide the space and time.

Kant states the physical object is essentially unknowable, what we can know is the phenomenon.

Phenomenon is the joining of the physical object and ourselves through experience which then conforms to our a priori knowledge.

The major problem with this view of a priori is that it expects the facts to always conform to logic and arithmetic and does not allow for variation or change.