Reflection: what I
learnt during week 37
After the conclusion of first theme, it is clear how
perception of the world was distinguished by Kant:
- World as itself
- World as we perceive
I. Kant denied the concept that the world is represented as
a mirror. According to Kant, we cannot know anything about the world as itself
only the God understands the world as itself. To Kant’s belief, humans apprehend
the world as it is perceived from the personal experience standpoint. According
to Kant, perception is based on 12 categories which have to be limited in space
and in time. 12 categories organize the sense – substance of certain qualities.
These concepts are the solid ground to perceive the world. As it was said
during the lecture:
- Perception without conception is blind.
- Conception without perception is empty.
According to Kant, is impossible to gain knowledge if the
world is not conceptual structured. But there are a priori things which do not
require previous experience to perceive it. A priori definition: judgement could be verified before experience. For instance, table is a priori, there is no
need to check if it is a table.
Group discussion
During the seminar our group mainly discussed about Kant’s
ideas and we forgot to share the views about Socrtaes’ philosophy. Despite
that, some drawn conclusions regarding Kant’s “Critique of Pure Reason”:
Defined and found the differences of a priori:
- A priori – verified judgement without experience.
- A posteriori – the answer, gained knowledge after the empirical research.
- Synthethic a priori – formulates 12 categories, adds time and space limitation. Without synthethic a priori structured conceptions will not be invoked.
In the group discussion, the attention was paid on the definition
of “Pure reason”. The opinions dissented.
In one mind, pure reason is the faculty of metaphysics and in other way around “Pure
reason” could be interpreted as synthethic a priori.
During the seminar I
raised the questions:
If we assume that knowledge is based on 12 categories which structure perception of the world. Can we say that our knowledge is limited? But Kant would not agree with me. According to his theory, 12 categories are defined broadly. For instance, existence, plurality and other formulations imply wide researches.
If we assume that knowledge is based on 12 categories which structure perception of the world. Can we say that our knowledge is limited? But Kant would not agree with me. According to his theory, 12 categories are defined broadly. For instance, existence, plurality and other formulations imply wide researches.
During the seminar it was agreed that 12 categories give you the world not the limitation. I was trying to understand what the world itself means. It turned out that Kant suggested analyzing the world not only the faculty of knowledge. And Kant’s 12 categories are raw data to go deeper. There will not be time and space – the conditions of the world perception – without people. The world is our world, there is no other world. Therefore, gaining knowledge is endless process
Plato´s dialogue Theaetetus
Socrates also spoke about knowledge as an outcome of perception. In Socrates philosophy, I would emphasize the theory that knowledge is already in our head, we just need to give a birth for knowledge. Hence, Socrates compared himself with the midwife. According to Socrates we see not with but through the eyes. On the seminar I clarified the meaning of this sentence. I comprehended “through eyes” theory as eyes are just a tool to reach our knowledge, articulated what is already constituted in minds.
I think you have written very interesting posts about theme 1. You can tell that you have thought a lot about the texts, been active during the discussions at the seminar and that you have understood what Plato and Kant wanted to convey through their texts. I also liked the way you structured your reflection. It was very easy to follow your explanations and understand how you contributed during the seminar.
AtsakytiPanaikintiThank you Denise. I tried to do my best.
PanaikintiGreat structure of the reflection, that made it pleasant to read your point of view. You're making a good point asking yourself if our knowledge is limited. But as far as I understood, Kant is only discussing the basic forms of categories (e.g. space and time) and not higher levels as in gender for example. Do you know what I mean?
AtsakytiPanaikintiThank you for nice words and question. I would say that Kant was not only concentrated on these 12 categories. Of course these categories are the main tool to go deeper and understand the world. I would not support the idea that Kant did not raise a high level concepts because these 12 categories are defined from philosophical point of view and give not the one right answer. For instance, community, subsistence and these categories should be invoked limiting in time and in space but as I understood, Kan'ts theory is not only about the matter of time and space.
PanaikintiThanks for the high quality posts on theme 1. You structured them nicely, especially the breakdown of your reflections. Since I was in a different group, it was also interesting to read what you discussed. For instance, I have not considered the possible definitions of pure reason - yet an example would be nice to clarify that more.
AtsakytiPanaikintiYour thoughts about the faculty of knowledge are fascinating. It is hard to grasp that categories are not meant to limit, but actually enable deriving a posteriori knowledge. Your explanation though, and also your comment on my blog got me contemplating about it some more, so well done! I really think you are asking very interesting questions, which make you contribute beneficially to an in depth discussion.
I love your explicit point that"A priori :judgement could be verified before experience".Also,It's great that you found what we missed to discuss in the class.What you talked about Socrates gave me inspiration. For example,"knowledge is already in our head, we just need to give a birth for knowledge".It's a good point.
AtsakytiPanaikintiNice reflections! The way you structured it makes a lot of sense, and your own reflections really shine through! I also think that you pretty much covered all the essentials with this, and this whilst maintaining a reflective approach, so good job!
AtsakytiPanaikintiInteresting thought on if our knowledge is limited or not regarding the categories of knowledge.
I don't really have anything constructive criticism to give at this point, but just keep it up!