Study guide available 11/6
Next test: 11/13 (tentative)

Kant agrees with Hume: All analytic statements are a priori

Kant disagrees with Hume: All synthetic statements are a posteriori.

Hume's criticism of rationalist like Descartes: They try to prove factual matters or what exists through a priori reasoning. Hume says you can't do this--you HAVE to use your senses. All conceptual reasoning can tell you about is concepts. You can't take truths about concepts to prove what is real. Exception: a contradiction can't be true (you can prove negatives via deductive reasoning). Contradictory concepts cannot be represented in the real world.

Kant disagrees that all synthetic statements are a posteriori. He agrees that: "EVERY EFFECT--HAS A CAUSE" is analytical, a priori, but he believes "EVERY EVENT--HAS A CAUSE" is synthetic BUT also a priori. (Hume believes that the this statement "Every event--has a cause" would be a posteriori). We know that everything has a cause. If it didn't science wouldn't work. But science clearly DOES work--just like 2+2=4 cannot be proven--it is assumed by everyone.

Thus empiricism is wrong, believes Kant. He says that statements like "every event has a cause" is presupposition--an assumption scientists must make--our common sense tells us that it is true--therefore, a priori.

Kant: Empiricist/Rationalist
He believes that reason has its short comings, but holds onto reason such as described above.