Question 1:
To answer – or rather interpreting - the first question regarding Kant and metaphysics shortly, it seems to be a way of looking at metaphysics from a different perspective.
If cognition must conform to objects, these objects are formed by our impressions, and to see or create something new a priori would require a set of impressions which we do not yet have, thereby making it impossible. So the question seems to be if there is a metaphysical doctrine to be found, which would allow us to reach beyond the limitation that comes with idea of cognition conforming to objects.
Kant implies that the answers is not to be found in how we understand and experience actual things, but rather how we can understand the workings of our own mind, and use this understanding as a way of transcending the above mentioned limitations.
If we were to assume that objects must conform to our cognition there are still certain boundaries which we cannot breach, such as space and time.
Question 2:
To answer – or rather interpreting - the first question regarding Kant and metaphysics shortly, it seems to be a way of looking at metaphysics from a different perspective.
If cognition must conform to objects, these objects are formed by our impressions, and to see or create something new a priori would require a set of impressions which we do not yet have, thereby making it impossible. So the question seems to be if there is a metaphysical doctrine to be found, which would allow us to reach beyond the limitation that comes with idea of cognition conforming to objects.
Kant implies that the answers is not to be found in how we understand and experience actual things, but rather how we can understand the workings of our own mind, and use this understanding as a way of transcending the above mentioned limitations.
If we were to assume that objects must conform to our cognition there are still certain boundaries which we cannot breach, such as space and time.
Question 2:
It is not the eye which creates the world we see, nor
is it the ears that create what we hear, they merely gives us the ability of
seeing and hearing. Therefore one might say that sight and hearing exists
through our eyes and ears.
The definition of empiricism, being that knowledge comes through experience applies the same logic in the sense that we cannot draw conclusions without experience. There is no self-existing truth, just as the eyes and ears cannot present us with sights and sound without interacting with the world around it.
Empiricism is not the answers itself but the means of “seeing” what is before us. Furthermore, the answers we might find through empiricism are not absolute, just as the way we perceive the world is a subjective matter that might vary from person to person.
The definition of empiricism, being that knowledge comes through experience applies the same logic in the sense that we cannot draw conclusions without experience. There is no self-existing truth, just as the eyes and ears cannot present us with sights and sound without interacting with the world around it.
Empiricism is not the answers itself but the means of “seeing” what is before us. Furthermore, the answers we might find through empiricism are not absolute, just as the way we perceive the world is a subjective matter that might vary from person to person.
Hi Anton,
SvaraRaderaGreat answers! Do you agree with that there is no self-existing truth and that answers we find through empiricism are not absolute?
I had a hard time accepting this (being a "natural scientist") but the more I think about it the more is makes sense that empiricism is a way that we perceive the world.
I agree with Sofia, great answers! I feel like you've taken a step outside the box and have contemplated on this topic from another viewpoint. I agree that empiricism isn't absolute. I see it as an "average-of-perceptions", a strive to finding the absolute average. The interesting part about this is how the "average" changes from time to time. This change feels faster the more we advance in time as a society. Empiricism carries an inertia in this way, but during the past decades the developed world has begun to have an easier time accepting these changes.
SvaraRadera