Kant

Question 1

1. The difference between the pure a priori and the a posteriori.

Answer 1

A priori - Knowledge that is independent of experience. It does not rely on any specific sensory input or empirical observation.
Source: It is derived purely from the operations of the mind and reason.

A posteriori - Knowledge that is dependent on experience. It comes from empirical observations and the sensory data we gather from the world.
Source: Derived from actual, specific experiences.

Question 2

2. The difference between analytical and synthetic judgements.

Answer 2

analytic judgement -
The predicate B belongs to the subject A as something that’s hidden in this concept A
An analytical judgement, according to Kant “could be called a judgement of clarification: its predicate doesn’t add anything to the concept of the subject”
“All bodies are extended”: in thinking of a body we can’t help but also think of it being extended in space; that would seem to be just part of what is meant by “body.”

synthetic judgement -
In a synthetic judgment, the predicate adds something new to the subject that is not already contained in it.
These judgments are ampliative; they expand our knowledge by synthesizing new information

Question 3

3. Examples of synthetic a priori judgements. The explanation of why these judgements are important for Metaphysics.

Answer 3

“All bodies are heavy,” where the predicate (“is heavy”) “is something entirely different from that which I think in the mere concept of body in general” (B11), and we must put together, or “synthesize,” the different concepts, body and heavy (sometimes such concepts are called “amplifying” a concept beyond what is “contained” in it).

Kant aimed to show how metaphysical knowledge could be possible. Traditional metaphysics often relied on speculative reasoning. Kant sought to ground metaphysical claims about concepts like space, time, causality, and the self in synthetic a priori judgments, arguing that they are necessary conditions for the possibility of experience.

Question 4

4. An understanding of what are Transcendental Arguments according to Kant.

Answer 4

1. That the world started existing at some point is a necessary condition for the world to exist
2. The world exists
3. So the world started existing at some point
4. ‘World’ just means the planet we live on
5. From reasoning, we can derive that:
   The World must have had a beginning
6. This claim is synthetic a priori

The mind must apply certain organizing concepts like causality and time to make sense of the raw data of experience. Without these, experience would be unintelligible.

What are the necessary conditions for the possibility of experience itself? His answer is that we can experience the world only if the mind actively organizes sensory input according to basic CATEGORIES like space, time, and causality.
Thus, our knowledge of the world is not merely a reflection of an external reality but a structured, necessary way of thinking.