PHIL230:PhilosophicalClassics

Dr.PaulMiklowitz
KantReviewQuestions

1. WhyisKantsuspiciousofmetaphysics?
Kantbelievesthatmetaphysicshasgonenowhereinitslonghistory.
Itsjustgoingincircles.
2. HowdoesHume'sanalysisofcausalityarouseKantfromhis"dogmaticslumbers"?Whyissayingthat
causalityisonlyhabitualexpectationradicalandsubversive?

3. Whatdoes"apriori"mean?"Aposteriori"?
Apriori=knowledgeknownbeforetheclaim
Aposteriori=knowledgegainedduring/aftertheclaim.
4. Whatisan"analyticproposition"?A"syntheticproposition"?
Analytic=predicateiscontainedinthesubject
Synthetic=predicatenotcontainedinthesubject
5. Whyitwouldseemthat"synthetic"propositionsmustbeaposteriori?HowdoesHume'sinsistencethatin
facttheyareleadtohisrepudiationofmetaphysics?

6. HowdoesKantrescuemetaphysicsfromHume'sskepticism?(Otherwiseput:Whyistheproblemofapriori
syntheticknowledgeimportanttoKant'sprojectintheProlegomena?
Kantsaysthatapriorisyntheticargumentsarepossible.Usesmath.
7. HowdoesKantlinkmathematics,purenaturalscienceandmetaphysicstogether?(Thatis,whatarethetwo
principalreasonsforsupposingthatmetaphysicsisindeedascience?)
Theyaretoolsthatwecanusetoexaminenature
8. WhydoesKantinsistthatmathematicsiscomposedofapriorisyntheticpropositions?(Explainhow
"7+5=12" and"Astraightlineistheshortestdistancebetweentwopoints"arebothaprioriandsynthetic.)

9. WhatdoesKantmeanwhenhesaysthatmathmustbebasedon"intuitions"andnoton"concepts"?
Trueofeverypossibleexperience
10. Whatisthedifferencebetween"empirical"and"pure"intuitions?Whymusttheintuitionsuponwhichmathis
basedbe"pure"?Whatarepureintuitionsof?

11. What,accordingtoKant,arethetwo"aprioriformsofsensibility"andhowdoes"pureintuition"ofthem
makeapriorisyntheticknowledgepossibleinmathematics?(Otherwiseput:howdoesKant'sinsightinto
SpaceandTimeasmereformsofourintuitionexplainhoweternalanduniversalknowledgeispossiblein
mathwithoutjustifyinganymetaphysicalspeculationabouttheimmortalityofthesoul,laPlato?)
Spaceandtime
12. IfSpaceandTimeareaprioriformsofintuition,giveanexampleofanaposterioricontent.
Anythingthatisanobject
13. ExplainwhatKantmeansby"thingsinthemselves"andwhyhiscommitmenttothemleadshimtodenythat
hissystemis"idealist."
Therealityweknowislimitedtoourownbody.
14. Giveanexampleofanapriorisyntheticpropositionofpurenaturalscience.
Substanceispermanent.Lawofcauseandeffect.
15. Whatisthefunctionofthe"conceptsoftheunderstanding"?
16thingsthatexistoutsideourexperience.Experiencecantbepossiblewithoutthem.
16. How,accordingtoKant,isapriorisyntheticknowledgepossibleinpurenaturalscience?

17. BrieflyexplainwhatKantmeanswhenhewritesthat"conceptswithoutintuitionsareempty;intuitionswithout
conceptsareblind."
Intuitions=10101010001010
Concepts=operatingsystemtointerpret
18. HowdoesKant'sanalysisofknowledgeinpurenaturalscienceconstitutea"CopernicanRevolution"in
philosophy?
19.Whatisthedifferencebetween"ideasofreason"and"conceptsoftheunderstanding"inKant'svocabulary?
Giveanexampleofeach.

20. Whatarethethree"transcendentalideas"analyzedintheThirdPartoftheProlegomenaandwhatdothey
concern?Whycantheygiveusnoknowledge?Whatistheirvalue?
Psychologicalthemind
Cosmologicaltheorderoftheuniverse
TheologicalGod.
21. Whatisthedifferencebetweentheuseofideasofreasonina"constitutive"sense(whichproduces"dogmatic
metaphysics")andtheuseofsuchideasina"regulative"sense(whichproduces"criticalmetaphysics")?