Battleground Peculiarly Suited Philosophy Questi

German philosopher Immanuel Kant is one of the greatest figures in the history of Western philosophy. Greatly influenced by Hume, Kant wondered why all previous attempts to articulate a convincing metaphysical theory had failed. He even suggested (p. 157) that those who had previously written about metaphysics had entered a “battleground peculiarly suited for those who desire to exercise themselves on mock combats…” In other words, past metaphysicians have been wasting their time!

Kant is searching for a scientific way to speak of what he calls a priori knowledge, that is, knowledge that does not simply depend on empirical observations. He wants to have scientific knowledge about reality beyond what the senses tell us because, as Hume showed, what the senses actually tell us is very limited. How to get beyond that? Kant suggests what he calls the Copernican revolution in philosophy, which means we must completely change our reference point and our sense of the order of knowledge in a manner parallel to the way Copernicus changed our point of reference in cosmology. “We must therefore make trial to whether we may not have more success in the tasks of metaphysics, if we suppose that objects must conform to our knowledge.” (p. 157) What does this mean? It means that Kant believes that the mind is, so to speak, programmed to think in certain ways, which he calls categories. We do not see causality or time or space and many other categories of metaphysical reality, but the empirical objects we do perceive we consider according to these categories of a priori knowledge. An easy and obvious way to understand what Kant is suggesting is to think of your computer programs: they are pre-set so that the information you put into them will be organized in a certain way. The information does not go in randomly. Similarly with the human mind. So in this way, metaphysical knowledge (a priori knowledge) is possible. The mistake of the empiricists like Hume, according to Kant, is to think that the mind simply records al the sensory knowledge, somewhat passively. On the contrary, the mind actively shapes the input.

You should read the first few sections of the Kant (pp.156-162) and try to make some sense of this. Kant is a notoriously difficult writer, but his work changed everything. Give some thoughts and answers to these questions:

1. Explain what Kant means when he says: “But though all our knowledge begins with experience, it does not follow that it all arises out of experience.” (p. 159)

2. How does Hume influence Kant? What does it mean to describe Kant’s work as a “Copernican revolution” in philosophy?

focus on one point, make a clear developed discussion.