Thanks to Kant's Critique of Pure Reason
, this term has taken on significant importance in the tradition of epistemology. Since the 18th century, Kant's much discussed notion of 'a posteriori' has been a way of typing a kind of human understanding -- a type of knowledge -- arrived through empirical experience and evidence. Thus, a posteriori concepts are those which are derived, explained and justified through empirical investigation and implication. This type of knowledge is famously set in contrast to Kant's notion of 'a priori' knowledge -- a type of knowledge that does not rely upon empirical methods. A priori truths are arrived at through purely logical or mathematical means, whereas a posteriori truths are achieved through a keen interest and investigation of human experience. Such truths range from common understanding achieved through general, ontic or everyday experience, to the truths achieved through the intense, exacting and controlled experimentation demanded by the physical and natural sciences.
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