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Single Idea 9128

[filed under theme 12. Knowledge Sources / A. A Priori Knowledge / 1. Nature of the A Priori ]

Full Idea

The primary bearer of apriority is the propositional attitude (believing, knowing, guessing and so on) rather than the proposition itself. A proposition could be a priori to homo sapiens but a posteriori to Neandethals.

Gist of Idea

It is propositional attitudes which can be a priori, not the propositions themselves

Source

Roy Sorensen (Vagueness and Contradiction [2001], 6.3)

Book Ref

Sorensen,Roy: 'Vagueness and Contradiction' [OUP 2004], p.99

A Reaction

A putative supreme being is quite useful here, who might even see the necessity of Arsenal beating Manchester United next Saturday. Unlike infants, adults know a priori that square pegs won't fit round holes.

The 22 ideas with the same theme [nature of knowledge acquired by pure thought]:

11239 The notion of a priori truth is absent in Aristotle [Aristotle, by Politis]
20784 There are non-sensible presentations, which come to us through the intellect [Stoic school, by Diog. Laertius]
9156 Kant's shift of view enables us to see a priority in terms of mental capacity, not truth and propositions [Burge on Kant]
7575 A priori knowledge is limited to objects of possible experience [Kant, by Jolley]
12414 A priori knowledge occurs absolutely independently of all experience [Kant]
9351 One sort of a priori knowledge just analyses given concepts, but another ventures further [Kant]
21476 A priori propositions are those we could never be seriously motivated to challenge [Schopenhauer]
9158 For Frege a priori knowledge derives from general principles, so numbers can't be primitive [Frege]
8259 Kripke has breathed new life into the a priori/a posteriori distinction [Kripke, by Lowe]
16989 Rather than 'a priori truth', it is best to stick to whether some person knows it on a priori evidence [Kripke]
4947 A priori truths can be known independently of experience - but they don't have to be [Kripke]
6982 Long arithmetic calculations show the a priori can be fallible [Jackson]
16892 Is apriority predicated mainly of truths and proofs, or of human cognition? [Burge]
12390 A priori knowledge comes from available a priori warrants that produce truth [Kitcher]
9333 A priori belief is not necessarily a priori justification, or a priori knowledge [Horwich]
20471 Epistemic a priori conditions concern either the source, defeasibility or strength [Casullo]
20477 The main claim of defenders of the a priori is that some justifications are non-experiential [Casullo]
3306 The clearest a priori knowledge is proving non-existence through contradiction [Benardete,JA]
20298 The traditional a priori is justified without experience; post-Quine it became unrevisable by experience [Rey]
9128 It is propositional attitudes which can be a priori, not the propositions themselves [Sorensen]
9130 Attributing apriority to a proposition is attributing a cognitive ability to someone [Sorensen]
4645 'A priori' does not concern how you learn a proposition, but how you show whether it is true or false [Baggini /Fosl]