more on this theme     |     more from this thinker

Single Idea 21445

[filed under theme 7. Existence / D. Theories of Reality / 4. Anti-realism ]

Full Idea

Even if we could bring this intuition of ours to the highest degree of distinctiveness we would not thereby come any closer to the constitution of objects in themselves.

Clarification

By 'intuition' he means normal experience

Gist of Idea

Even the most perfect intuition gets no closer to things in themselves

Source

Immanuel Kant (Critique of Pure Reason [1781], B060/A43)

Book Ref

Kant,Immanuel: 'Critique of Pure Reason', ed/tr. Guyer,P /Wood,A W [CUO 1998], p.185

A Reaction

Either slightly ridiculous anti-realism, or a self-evident platitude. Personally I think I know the reality of trees pretty well, but to totally embrace their constitution I would have to become a tree (an Ent). My experience of me is only partial.

The 219 ideas from 'Critique of Pure Reason'

12767 Kant exposed the illusions of reason in the Transcendental Dialectic [Kant, by Fraassen]
7918 Kant turned metaphysics into epistemology, ignoring Aristotle's 'being qua being' [Kant, by Macdonald,C]
21462 It is still possible to largely accept Kant as a whole (where others must be dismantled) [Kant, by Gardner]
9752 Kant showed that theoretical reason cannot give answers to speculative metaphysics [Kant, by Korsgaard]
6584 A priori metaphysics is fond of basic unchanging entities like God, the soul, Forms, atoms… [Kant, by Fogelin]
18236 Reason keeps asking why until explanation is complete [Kant, by Korsgaard]
9632 Kant only accepts potential infinity, not actual infinity [Kant, by Brown,JR]
3343 Euclid's could be the only viable geometry, if rejection of the parallel line postulate doesn't lead to a contradiction [Benardete,JA on Kant]
8739 Geometry studies the Euclidean space that dictates how we perceive things [Kant, by Shapiro]
12421 Kant's intuitions struggle to judge relevance, impossibility and exactness [Kitcher on Kant]
12458 Kant taught that mathematics is independent of logic, and cannot be grounded in it [Kant, by Hilbert]
6160 Does Kant say the mind imposes categories, or that it restricts us to them? [Rowlands on Kant]
17772 Kant claims causal powers are relational rather than intrinsic [Kant, by Bayne]
7416 Kant is read as the phenomena being 'contrained' by the noumenon, or 'free-floating' [Talbot on Kant]
7576 The Identity of Indiscernibles is true of concepts with identical properties, but not of particulars [Kant, by Jolley]
23461 Kant thought worldly necessities are revealed by what maths needs to make sense [Kant, by Morris,M]
14710 Necessity is always knowable a priori, and what is known a priori is always necessary [Kant, by Schroeter]
16256 For Kant metaphysics must be necessary, so a priori, so can't be justified by experience [Kant, by Maudlin]
16898 Understanding essentially involves singular elements [Kant, by Burge]
20944 Knowledge is threefold: apprehension, reproduction by imagination, recognition by concepts [Kant, by Bowie]
6909 In Kantian idealism, objects fit understanding, not vice versa [Kant, by Feuerbach]
6910 Kant's idealism is a limited idealism based on the viewpoint of empiricism [Kant, by Feuerbach]
21440 For Kant experience is either structured like reality, or generates reality's structure [Kant, by Gardner]
22006 The concepts that make judgeable experiences possible are created spontaneously [Kant, by Pinkard]
15627 Kant showed that the understanding (unlike reason) concerns what is finite and conditioned [Kant, by Hegel]
22003 We have no sensual experience of time and space, so they must be 'ideal' [Kant, by Pinkard]
21456 Objects having to be experiencable is not the same as full idealism [Gardner on Kant]
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]
5404 Two plus two objects make four objects even if experience is impossible, so Kant is wrong [Russell on Kant]
3342 Seeing that only one parallel can be drawn to a line through a given point is clearly synthetic a priori [Kant, by Benardete,JA]
20943 Kant bases the synthetic a priori on the categories of oneness and manyness [Kant, by Bowie]
5402 Kant showed that we have a priori knowledge which is not purely analytic [Kant, by Russell]
5203 We can think of 7 and 5 without 12, but it is still a contradiction to deny 7+5=12 [Ayer on Kant]
5403 If, as Kant says, arithmetic and logic are contributed by us, they could change if we did [Russell on Kant]
18262 For Kant analytic knowledge needs complex concepts, but the a priori can rest on the simple [Coffa on Kant]
2774 Kant says the cognitive and sensory elements in experience can't be separated [Kant, by Dancy,J]
22005 Associations and causes cannot explain content, which needs norms of judgement [Kant, by Pinkard]
7070 Kant says knowledge is when our representations sufficiently conform to our concepts [Kant, by Critchley]
4708 Kant thought he had refuted scepticism, but his critics say he is a sceptic, for rejecting reality [O'Grady on Kant]
6578 For Kant, experience is relative to a scheme, but there are no further possible schemes [Kant, by Fogelin]
4086 Kant thought that consciousness depends on self-consciousness ('apperception') [Kant, by Crane]
2869 Kant's only answer as to how synthetic a priori judgements are possible was that we have a 'faculty'! [Nietzsche on Kant]
6577 For Kant, our conceptual scheme is disastrous when it reaches beyond experience [Kant, by Fogelin]
8736 Kantian intuitions are of particulars, and they give immediate knowledge [Kant, by Shapiro]
9751 To some extent we must view ourselves as noumena [Kant, by Korsgaard]
9756 We must be free, because we can act against our strongest desires [Kant, by Korsgaard]
8687 Kantian 'intuition' is the bridge between pure reason and its application to sense experiences [Kant, by Friend]
21759 Kant deduced the categories from our judgements, and then as preconditions of experience [Kant, by Houlgate]
19655 Kant says we can describe the categories of thought, but Hegel claims to deduce them [Kant, by Meillassoux]
8735 Kant implies that concepts have analysable parts [Kant, by Shapiro]
7314 How can bachelor 'contain' unmarried man? Are all analytic truths in subject-predicate form? [Miller,A on Kant]
22004 Concepts are rules for combining representations [Kant, by Pinkard]
8734 Non-subject/predicate tautologies won't fit Kant's definition of analyticity [Shapiro on Kant]
22052 Kant's nature is just a system of necessary laws [Bowie on Kant]
8256 Kant identifies nature with the scientific picture of it as the realm of law [Kant, by McDowell]
9755 The concept of causality entails laws; random causality is a contradiction [Kant, by Korsgaard]
17709 We judge causation by relating events together by some law of nature [Kant, by Mares]
19669 For Kant the laws must be necessary, because contingency would destroy representation [Kant, by Meillassoux]
19672 Kant fails to prove the necessity of laws, because his reasoning about chance is over-ambitious [Meillassoux on Kant]
6916 For Kant, essence is mental and a mere idea, and existence is the senses and mere appearance [Kant, by Feuerbach]
8451 Existence is merely derived from the word 'is' (rather than being a predicate) [Kant, by Orenstein]
3321 Modern logic says (with Kant) that existence is not a predicate, because it has been reclassified as a quantifier [Benardete,JA on Kant]
13732 Kant never denied that 'exist' could be a predicate - only that it didn't enlarge concepts [Kant, by Fitting/Mendelsohn]
21439 Religion and legislation can only be respected if they accept free and public examination [Kant]
18794 Logic has precise boundaries, and is the formal rules for all thinking [Kant]
21438 Metaphysics might do better to match objects to our cognition (and not start with the objects) [Kant]
9345 Propositions involving necessity are a priori, and pure a priori if they only derive from other necessities [Kant]
12414 A priori knowledge occurs absolutely independently of all experience [Kant]
16893 The apriori is independent of its sources, and marked by necessity and generality [Kant, by Burge]
9346 Judgements which are essentially and strictly universal reveal our faculty of a priori cognition [Kant]
9347 A priori knowledge is indispensable for the possibility and certainty of experience [Kant]
5523 Causation obviously involves necessity, so it cannot just be frequent association [Kant]
9348 Experienceless bodies have space; propertyless bodies have substance; this must be seen a priori [Kant]
9349 A dove cutting through the air, might think it could fly better in airless space (which Plato attempted) [Kant]
9350 Our reason mostly analyses concepts we already have of objects [Kant]
9351 One sort of a priori knowledge just analyses given concepts, but another ventures further [Kant]
20291 If the predicate is contained in the subject of a judgement, it is analytic; otherwise synthetic [Kant]
20292 Analytic judgements clarify, by analysing the subject into its component predicates [Kant]
18259 Analysis is becoming self-conscious about our concepts [Kant]
5524 Maths must be a priori because it is necessary, and that cannot be derived from experience [Kant]
5525 No analysis of the sum of seven and five will in itself reveal twelve [Kant]
5526 With large numbers it is obvious that we could never find the sum by analysing the concepts [Kant]
5527 That a straight line is the shortest is synthetic, as straight does not imply any quantity [Kant]
5528 That force and counter-force are equal is necessary, and a priori synthetic [Kant]
5529 The real problem of pure reason is: how are a priori synthetic judgments possible? [Kant]
16611 You just can't stop metaphysical speculation, in any mature mind [Kant]
5530 Analysis of our concepts is merely a preparation for proper a priori metaphysics [Kant]
21442 'Transcendental' cognition concerns what can be known a priori of its mode [Kant]
23454 Appearances have a 'form', which indicates a relational order [Kant]
17736 We can't learn of space through experience; experience of space needs its representation [Kant]
5531 Space is an a priori necessary basic intuition, as we cannot imagine its absence [Kant]
5532 Colours and tastes are not qualities of things, but alterations of the subject [Kant]
5533 Objects in themselves are not known to us at all [Kant]
5534 One can never imagine appearances without time, so it is given a priori [Kant]
5535 That times cannot be simultaneous is synthetic, so it is known by intuition, not analysis [Kant]
5536 If space and time exist absolutely, we must assume the existence of two pointless non-entities [Kant]
19386 Without the subject or the senses, space and time vanish, as their appearances disappear [Kant]
21446 If we disappeared, then all relations of objects, and time and space themselves, disappear too [Kant]
21445 Even the most perfect intuition gets no closer to things in themselves [Kant]
5537 That two lines cannot enclose a space is an intuitive a priori synthetic proposition [Kant]
5538 Understanding has no intuitions, and senses no thought, so knowledge needs their unity [Kant]
17616 Thoughts without content are empty, intuitions without concepts are blind [Kant]
5539 We must presuppose that truth is agreement of cognition with its objects [Kant]
5540 Cleverness is shown in knowing what can reasonably be asked [Kant]
5541 A sufficient but general sign of truth cannot possibly be provided [Kant]
5542 There must be a general content-free account of truth in the rules of logic [Kant]
5543 All human cognition is through concepts [Kant]
22443 We are seldom aware of imagination, but we would have no cognition at all without it [Kant]
5544 Four groups of categories of concept: Quantity, Quality, Relation and Modality [Kant]
5545 Appearances give rules of what usually happens, but cause involves necessity [Kant]
5546 Are a priori concepts necessary as a precondition for something to be an object? [Kant]
21449 The a priori concept of objects in general is the ground of experience [Kant]
5547 The categories are objectively valid, because they make experience possible [Kant]
21448 Categories are general concepts of objects, which determine the way in which they are experienced [Kant]
21450 Representation would be impossible without the 'I think' that accompanies it [Kant]
5549 Mental representations would not be mine if they did not belong to a unified self-consciousness [Kant]
5550 A substance could exist as a subject, but not as a mere predicate [Kant]
23697 I exist just as an intelligence aware of its faculty for combination [Kant]
5551 I have no cognition of myself as I am, but only as I appear to myself [Kant]
5552 Categories are concepts that prescribe laws a priori to appearances [Kant]
5553 Either experience creates concepts, or concepts make experience possible [Kant]
5554 Categories are necessary, so can't be implanted in us to agree with natural laws [Kant]
5555 Philosophical examples rarely fit rules properly, and lead to inflexibility [Kant]
5556 A pure concept of the understanding can never become an image [Kant]
8737 Kant suggested that arithmetic has no axioms [Kant, by Shapiro]
5557 Axioms ought to be synthetic a priori propositions [Kant]
2795 If 7+5=12 is analytic, then an infinity of other ways to reach 12 have to be analytic [Kant, by Dancy,J]
5558 7+5=12 is not analytic, because 12 is not contained in 7 or 5 or their combination [Kant]
5559 Sensations are a posteriori, but that they come in degrees is known a priori [Kant]
5560 The three modes of time are persistence, succession and simultaneity [Kant]
21451 All appearances need substance, as that which persists through change [Kant]
5561 If time involved succession, we must think of another time in which succession occurs [Kant]
5562 Experience is only possible because we subject appearances to causal laws [Kant]
5563 The principle of sufficient reason is the ground of possible experience in time [Kant]
14560 A ball denting a pillow seems like simultaneous cause and effect, though time identifies which is cause [Kant]
5564 Substance must exist, as the persisting substratum of the process of change [Kant]
5565 Proof of the principle of sufficient reason cannot be found [Kant]
18796 Formal experience conditions show what is possible, and general conditions what is necessary [Kant]
18797 Modalities do not augment our concepts; they express their relation to cognition [Kant]
21452 I can only determine my existence in time via external things [Kant]
5566 Is the possible greater than the actual, and the actual greater than the necessary? [Kant]
8740 Geometry would just be an idle game without its connection to our intuition [Kant]
17617 Maths is a priori, but without its relation to empirical objects it is meaningless [Kant]
5567 A priori the understanding can only anticipate possible experiences [Kant]
5568 We cannot know things in themselves, but are confined to appearances [Kant]
5569 We cannot represent objects unless we combine concepts with intuitions [Kant]
14509 If we ignore differences between water drops, we still distinguish them by their location [Kant]
5570 Self-knowledge can only be inner sensation, and thus appearance [Kant]
22274 'Transcendent' is beyond experience, and 'transcendental' is concealed within experience [Kant, by Potter]
5571 Reason contains within itself certain underived concepts and principles [Kant]
5572 Reason has logical and transcendental faculties [Kant]
5573 Reason is distinct from understanding, and is the faculty of rules or principles [Kant]
5575 An obvious idea is a constitution based on maximum mutual freedom for citizens [Kant]
5576 We cannot derive moral laws from experience, as it is the mother of illusion [Kant]
5577 Transcendental ideas require unity of the subject, conditions of appearance, and objects of thought [Kant]
5578 Pure reason deals with concepts in the understanding, not with objects [Kant]
5581 We have proved that bodies are appearances of the outer senses, not things in themselves [Kant]
5582 As balls communicate motion, so substances could communicate consciousness, but not retain identity [Kant]
5583 We need an account of the self based on rational principles, to avoid materialism [Kant]
5584 All objections are dogmatic (against propositions), or critical (against proofs), or sceptical [Kant]
5585 Soul and body connect physically, or by harmony, or by assistance [Kant]
5586 The voyage of reason may go only as far as the coastline of experience reaches [Kant]
2965 For Kant the self is a purely formal idea, not a substance [Kant, by Lockwood]
5589 Neither materialism nor spiritualism can reveal the separate existence of the soul [Kant]
5590 'I think therefore I am' is an identity, not an inference (as there is no major premise) [Kant]
5591 Reason must assume as necessary that everything in a living organism has a proportionate purpose [Kant]
5592 Scepticism is the euthanasia of pure reason [Kant]
5593 Reason generates no concepts, but frees them from their link to experience in the understanding [Kant]
5594 Natural necessity is the unconditioned necessity of appearances [Kant]
21454 The battle of the antinomies is usually won by the attacker, and lost by any defender [Kant]
5595 Scepticism is absurd in maths, where there are no hidden false assertions [Kant]
5596 We must assume an absolute causal spontaneity beginning from itself [Kant]
5597 If there is a first beginning, there can be other sequences initiated from nothing [Kant]
5598 If you prove God cosmologically, by a regress in the sequences of causes, you can't abandon causes at the end [Kant]
5599 Without God, creation and free will, morality would be empty [Kant]
5600 Human reason considers all knowledge as belonging to a possible system [Kant]
21956 Everything we intuit is merely a representation, with no external existence (Transcendental Idealism) [Kant]
5601 There are possible inhabitants of the moon, but they are just possible experiences [Kant]
5602 The free dialectic opposition of arguments is an invaluable part of the sceptical method [Kant]
21455 We only understand what exists, and can find no sign of what ought to be in nature [Kant]
5603 Pure reason exists outside of time [Kant]
5604 In reason things can only begin if they are voluntary [Kant]
5605 Moral blame is based on reason, since a reason is a cause which should have been followed [Kant]
5606 Freedom and natural necessity do not contradict, as they relate to different conditions [Kant]
5607 Only three proofs of God: the physico-theological (evidence), the cosmological (existence), the ontological (a priori) [Kant]
18795 A concept is logically possible if non-contradictory (but may not be actually possible) [Kant]
5609 If 'this exists' is analytic, either the thing is a thought, or you have presupposed its existence [Kant]
5608 Is "This thing exists" analytic or synthetic? [Kant]
5610 If an existential proposition is synthetic, you must be able to cancel its predicate without contradiction [Kant]
5611 Being is not a real predicate, that adds something to a concept [Kant]
5612 You add nothing to the concept of God or coins if you say they exist [Kant]
4475 Saying a thing 'is' adds nothing to it - otherwise if my concept exists, it isn't the same as my concept [Kant]
5613 The analytic mark of possibility is that it does not generate a contradiction [Kant]
5615 Extension and impenetrability together make the concept of matter [Kant]
5616 Pure reason is only concerned with itself because it deals with understandings, not objects [Kant]
5617 Knowledge begins with intuitions, moves to concepts, and ends with ideas [Kant]
16899 Geometrical truth comes from a general schema abstracted from a particular object [Kant, by Burge]
18264 We know the shape of a cone from its concept, but we don't know its colour [Kant]
5618 Definitions exhibit the exhaustive concept of a thing within its boundaries [Kant]
5619 No a priori concept can be defined [Kant]
5620 Philosophy has no axioms, as it is just rational cognition of concepts [Kant]
5621 The existence of reason depends on the freedom of citizens to agree, doubt and veto ideas [Kant]
5622 The boundaries of reason can only be determined a priori [Kant]
5623 If I know the earth is a sphere, and I am on it, I can work out its area from a small part [Kant]
5624 We possess synthetic a priori knowledge in our principles which anticipate experience [Kant]
5626 An a priori principle of persistence anticipates all experience [Kant]
23696 Transcendental cognition is that a priori thought which shows how the a priori is applicable or possible [Kant]
5627 I can express the motion of my body in a single point, but that doesn't mean it is a simple substance [Kant]
5628 Reason hates to be limited in its speculations [Kant]
5629 If a proposition implies any false consequences, then it is false [Kant]
5630 Our concept of an incorporeal nature is merely negative [Kant]
5631 Reason is only interested in knowledge, actions and hopes [Kant]
5632 Moral laws are commands, which must involve promises and threats, which only God could provide [Kant]
5633 We don't accept duties as coming from God, but assume they are divine because they are duties [Kant]
5634 Opinion is subjectively and objectively insufficient; belief is subjective but not objective; knowledge is both [Kant]
5635 In ordinary life the highest philosophy is no better than common understanding [Kant]
21457 Reason has two separate objects, morality and freedom, and nature, which ultimately unite [Kant]
21954 Metaphysics is a systematic account of everything that can be known a priori [Kant]