Kant Flashcards
What is analysis?
The method of examining concepts by breaking them down into their basic components.
What defines an analytic judgment?
A judgment is analytic if the meaning of the subject already includes the meaning of the predicate.
What does a posteriori knowledge mean?
A representation or knowledge claim acquired or justified through experience.
What are appearances according to Kant?
The way things are presented to our senses or understanding.
What is a priori knowledge?
A representation or knowledge claim that can be justified or known independently of experience.
Define autonomy.
The ability of a rational will to govern itself without being controlled by external forces.
What does categorical refer to?
That which is concerned with absolute or unconditional necessity.
What is a category in Kant’s philosophy?
A type of concept that structures human experience.
Define cognition (Erkenntnis).
The knowledge human beings can have of the world by combining both concepts and intuitions in judgment.
What does critical refer to in Kant’s philosophy?
That which concerns the possibility of knowledge by examining the powers and limitations of the subject’s own cognitive capacities.
What is deduction in philosophical terms?
A justification of a concept by demonstrating that it is a necessary condition for the possibility of some form of experience.
What is duty?
The obligation to perform or refrain from an action based solely on the recognition of moral principle.
What does form refer to in Kantian ethics?
The structural element within a maxim that determines whether it can be formulated in a lawlike way.
Define freedom as per Kant.
The causal power of the will to determine its own actions autonomously.
What is heteronomy?
The condition of being governed by external influences rather than by one’s own rational capacities.
What does hypothetical reasoning determine?
The rational means to achieve a particular desired end.
What is humanity in Kant’s philosophy?
The feature of individuals that gives them absolute value and worth, independent of any instrumental usefulness.
Define imperative.
A rule that prescribes a necessary course of action.
What is inclination?
A motivation arising from desires or needs.
What does intuition refer to?
An immediate representation of a single, individual object.
What is the kingdom of ends?
A formulation of the Categorical Imperative envisioning a community of rational agents treating others as ends in themselves.
Define law in Kantian terms.
A rule that holds necessarily and universally, applying without exception within a given domain.
What is matter in the context of a maxim?
The specific content of a maxim as it applies to particular circumstances or conditions.
What is a maxim?
A subjective principle or rule that an individual adopts as a guide for action.
What does practical refer to?
That which relates to ethical or political concerns.
What is respect (Achtung) in Kant’s ethics?
The recognition of the moral law as binding, combined with the motivation to act accordingly.
What is self-legislation?
The act of establishing a rule or law as binding upon oneself by one’s own rational will.
What is synthesis?
The act of combining two representations by identifying a common element that connects them.
Define synthetic judgment.
A judgment that links two concepts based on something other than definition alone.
What does theoretical refer to?
That which concerns the possibility of knowing the world.
What is the thing in itself?
The underlying reality that explains things as they are independent of human perception.
What is the will in Kant’s philosophy?
The faculty of practical reason that allows an agent to form intentions and determine actions.
