Single Idea 18262

[catalogued under 12. Knowledge Sources / A. A Priori Knowledge / 9. A Priori from Concepts]

Full Idea

As Kant saw it, analytic knowledge is possible only in the presence of conceptual complexity, but it should have been clear that simple concepts, unaided by intuition, are as apt as their complex counterparts to act as grounds of a priori knowledge.

Gist of Idea

For Kant analytic knowledge needs complex concepts, but the a priori can rest on the simple

Source

comment on Immanuel Kant (Critique of Pure Reason [1781]) by J. Alberto Coffa - The Semantic Tradition from Kant to Carnap 1 'Analyt'

Book Reference

Coffa,J.Alberto: 'The Semantic Tradition from Kant to Carnap' [CUP 1993], p.20


A Reaction

The point is that the concept must 'contain' something for Kant's account of what is analytic. This seems to be a very important thought for those who think the a priori is entirely analytic.