The Philosophy Of Immanuel Kant

Summary

This video script delves into Immanuel Kant's Transcendental Idealism, emphasizing the unknowability of the external world and the mind's role in shaping our reality. It outlines Kant's distinction between a priori and a posteriori knowledge, and introduces phenomena and noumena as the basis of our sensory perceptions. The script encourages viewers to explore Kant's philosophy further, suggesting readings by Wallace, Schopenhauer, and Durant for a deeper understanding of his complex ideas.

Takeaways

• 📚 The 19th century is often associated with Immanuel Kant's influential philosophy, particularly his Transcendental Idealism.
• 🤔 Kant's complex philosophy suggests that the external world is unknowable, and what we perceive as reality is an interpretation by our minds.
• 📈 Kant distinguishes between a priori knowledge, which is independent of experience, and a posteriori knowledge, which is derived from sensory experience.
• 🔢 An example of a priori knowledge is the mathematical truth that 2 + 2 equals 4, a fact that holds regardless of any sensory input.
• 🐕 An example of a posteriori knowledge is the statement 'My dog is black,' which requires sensory confirmation and can change with new evidence.
• 🍊 Kant uses the example of an orange to illustrate phenomena, the sensory experiences that shape our understanding of objects, versus noumena, the objects as they exist independently of our perception.
• 🚫 Kant warns against speculation about noumena, stating that such metaphysical inquiry is like navigating a dark ocean without guidance.
• 🧠 He advocates for self-examination of our mental faculties to better understand our perceptions and the nature of reality.
• 🎭 Kant's transcendental philosophy focuses on our a priori concepts of objects rather than the objects themselves, influencing later philosophers like Schopenhauer and Nietzsche.
• 📖 For further study, Will Durant recommends starting with Wallace's 'Kant' and Schopenhauer's 'The World as Will and Idea' for a critique of Kant's work.
• 🔗 The video script suggests additional resources for understanding Kant's philosophy, including Durant's 'The Story of Philosophy,' with links provided in the video description.

Q & A

Who is considered to have had the most influence on the 19th-century philosophy?

Immanuel Kant is considered to have had the most influence on the 19th-century philosophy.

What did Will Durant say about Kant's philosophy?

Will Durant said that Kant labored to rescue mind from matter, argued against the uses of 'pure reason,' and brought back the beliefs of the ancient faith through his complex thought.

What is the focus of the video script on Immanuel Kant's philosophy?

The video script focuses on aspects of Kant's Transcendental Idealism, particularly his claim that the external world is unknowable and that our reality is an interpretation from our minds.

What are the two distinctions of knowledge according to Kant?

The two distinctions of knowledge according to Kant are a priori knowledge, which can be known without experience or data from the senses, and a posteriori knowledge, which is gained through sensory experience.

What is an example of a priori knowledge?

An example of a priori knowledge is the understanding that 2 + 2 will always equal 4, as this is a mathematical truth that does not require sensory experience to be known.

What does Kant mean by 'phenomena'?

By 'phenomena,' Kant refers to the realities or appearances that are interpreted from our minds, which are the only aspects of the world that we can know.

What is the definition of 'noumena' according to Kant?

Noumena, according to Kant, are things that exist regardless of our minds' interpretations, and they are unknowable because we can only know the world as it is presented to us through our senses.

How does Kant describe our interaction with an orange in terms of phenomena?

Kant describes our interaction with an orange as a combination of sensations such as touch, temperature, smell, sight, and taste, which together create the 'thing' we call an orange, all of which are phenomena.

What does Kant suggest we should do instead of speculating about noumena?

Instead of speculating about noumena, Kant suggests that we should examine our own mental abilities and how they relate to what we perceive in our own personal reality.

What does Kant call his effort to answer problems that transcend sense-experience?

Kant calls his effort to answer problems that transcend sense-experience 'transcendental philosophy.'

What are some recommended readings to learn more about Immanuel Kant according to the video script?

The video script recommends starting with Wallace's 'Kant,' Schopenhauer's 'The World as Will and Idea,' and reading the section on Kant in Will Durant's 'The Story of Philosophy.'

Outlines

00:00

🎓 Kant's Transcendental Idealism and the Limits of Knowledge

This paragraph introduces Immanuel Kant as the defining philosopher of the 19th century, with a particular focus on his Transcendental Idealism. It discusses Kant's argument that the external world is unknowable, and that our reality is a construct of our minds. The script emphasizes the complexity of Kant's philosophy and the ongoing debates surrounding it. It also outlines the concepts of a priori and a posteriori knowledge, explaining that a priori knowledge is independent of experience, exemplified by mathematical truths, while a posteriori knowledge is derived from sensory experience and is subject to change. The paragraph concludes with an invitation to subscribe for more philosophical content and a quote from Kant about the progression of knowledge from the senses to reason.

05:00

🌐 Phenomena, Noumena, and the Nature of Reality in Kant's Philosophy

This paragraph delves deeper into Kant's distinction between phenomena and noumena. Phenomena are the appearances of reality as interpreted by our minds, while noumena are things that exist independently of our perceptions. Kant argues that we can only know phenomena, as our senses limit our understanding of reality. The paragraph uses the example of an orange to illustrate how our senses create our perception of the object. It also touches on Kant's caution against speculating about noumena, likening metaphysics to a dark ocean without guidance. The script suggests that self-examination of our mental faculties can provide deeper insights into philosophical questions. It ends with a reference to Will Durant's view of Kant's impact on philosophy and a teaser for future videos on Kant's philosophy, along with recommendations for further reading.

Keywords

💡Immanuel Kant

Immanuel Kant is a central figure in the script, an 18th-century philosopher known for his immense influence on the field of philosophy. He is the primary subject of the video, with his philosophy of Transcendental Idealism being the focus. The script discusses Kant's argument that the external world is unknowable and that our reality is an interpretation from our minds, which is a key theme of the video.

💡Transcendental Idealism

Transcendental Idealism is a philosophical concept introduced by Kant, which posits that our knowledge is structured by the mind and that the external world, as it is in itself, is unknowable. The video explores this concept, emphasizing that we only have access to the phenomena, or the world as it appears to us, rather than the noumena, or the world as it is in itself.

💡Phenomenal and Noumenal

The script introduces the Kantian distinction between the 'phenomenal' and the 'noumenal.' Phenomenal refers to the world as it appears to us through our senses, which is all we can know. Noumenal, on the other hand, refers to the world as it exists independently of our perception, which remains unknowable. This distinction is crucial to understanding Kant's Transcendental Idealism.

💡A priori and A posteriori

The script explains two types of knowledge: 'a priori' and 'a posteriori.' A priori knowledge is independent of experience and is often associated with logical or mathematical truths, such as 2+2=4. A posteriori knowledge is derived from sensory experience and is subject to change as new evidence is encountered. These concepts are integral to Kant's epistemology and are used to illustrate how we come to understand the world.

💡Senses

Senses are the means through which we gather information about the world around us, as mentioned in the script. Kant believed that all knowledge begins with the senses, which then leads to understanding and reason. The example of an orange in the script illustrates how our senses contribute to our understanding of phenomena.

💡Reason

Reason is the final stage in Kant's progression of knowledge, as stated in the script. It is the faculty of the mind that draws inferences from the data provided by the senses and processed by the understanding. Reason is what Kant considers the highest form of knowledge, beyond which there is nothing higher.

💡Metaphysics

Metaphysics is a branch of philosophy that deals with the fundamental nature of reality, and in the script, it is discussed in the context of Kant's critique of traditional metaphysical speculation. Kant believed that traditional metaphysics was flawed because it attempted to understand noumena, which he argued was beyond our cognitive abilities.

💡Will Durant

Will Durant is a philosopher and historian mentioned in the script who provided a quote about Kant's philosophy. Durant is known for his work 'The Story of Philosophy,' which includes a section on Kant, and he is recommended by the script as a source for further understanding of Kant's philosophy.

💡Schopenhauer

Schopenhauer is a philosopher referenced in the script who both accepted and critiqued Kant's philosophy. His work 'The World as Will and Idea' is recommended in the script for those interested in a critical perspective on Kant's ideas.

💡Nietzsche

Nietzsche is another philosopher mentioned in the script who, despite being a heretic in many respects, accepted Kant's reduction of the world to mere appearance as a necessary starting point for philosophy. This highlights the influence and importance of Kant's ideas in shaping subsequent philosophical thought.

Highlights

The 19th century is often attributed to Immanuel Kant for his influential philosophy.

Kant's philosophy is considered complex and difficult to capture in a single video.

Focus will be on Kant's Transcendental Idealism and the claim that the external world is unknowable.

Kant's writings stir ongoing debate among philosophers, with his Transcendental Idealism remaining an enigma.

Kant's quote emphasizes that all knowledge begins with the senses and ends with reason.

Kant distinguishes between a priori knowledge, independent of experience, and a posteriori knowledge, dependent on sensory experience.

A priori knowledge includes mathematical truths, such as 2+2 always equaling 4.

A posteriori knowledge is subject to change based on new sensory evidence.

Kant introduces the concepts of phenomena and noumena to describe the knowable and unknowable aspects of reality.

Phenomena are the appearances interpreted by our minds, while noumena exist independently of our perceptions.

The example of an orange illustrates how our senses create our understanding of phenomena.

Noumena represents the unknowable aspect of reality beyond our sensory perceptions.

Kant advises against speculation about noumena, likening metaphysics to a dark ocean.

Kant's transcendental philosophy is more concerned with our a priori concepts of objects than the objects themselves.

Philosophers like Schopenhauer and Nietzsche accepted Kant's reduction of the world to mere appearance as a necessary foundation for philosophy.

The video suggests further exploration of Kant's philosophy in future videos.

Will Durant's recommendation for understanding Kant includes starting with Wallace's Kant and Schopenhauer's World as Will and Idea.

Durant's section on Kant in The Story of Philosophy is also recommended for further reading.

Transcripts

It can be said that the 18th century most  certainly belonged to the likes of Hume  

and Voltaire, but the 19th would be awarded  to the immensely influential philosophy of  

Immanuel Kant. As said best by philosopher and  historian Will Durant “It was Kant who labored  

best to rescue mind from matter; who argued  so irrefutably (because so unintelligibly)  

against the uses of ‘pure reason,’ and who,  by the prestidigitation of his thought,  

brought back to life, magician-wise, the dear  beliefs of the ancient faith.” I believe it  

would be foolish and near impossible to capture  the immensely complex philosophy of Immanuel Kant  

in just one video, so instead we will focus  on aspects of his Transcendental Idealism,  

namely on his claim that the external world  is unknowable and that the reality we know  

is only mere interpretation from our minds. The fantastic and exhilarating thing about  

Kant is that his writings, profound as they are,  stir debate among philosophers. The identity of  

his Transcendental Idealism remains to this day  an enigma. Keep in mind as we continue; that your  

interpretation may differ slightly from my own. Before getting started I would be incredibly  

grateful if you would subscribe to  the channel, I post videos relating  

to eastern and western philosophy every week. I would like to begin with a quote from Kant  

himself, he said “All our knowledge begins with  the senses, proceeds then to the understanding,  

and ends with reason. There is nothing higher  than reason.” Beneath the surface of this  

statement from Kant, there is much to unpack. First that there are two distinctions of knowledge  

that must be understood, knowledge that is  a priori and knowledge that is a posteriori. 

A priori meaning in Lain “from the former;”  refers to knowledge that can be known without  

experience or data from the senses. A prime  example of this is mathematical equations,  

for we cannot conceive that 2 + 2 can or will ever  in this world or any other equal anything but 4,  

because 2+2 and 4 are one in the same expressed  differently. Likewise we cannot begin to think  

that the shortest distance between two points  will ever be anything but a straight line. 

A posteriori meaning in Latin “from the latter;”  refers to knowledge gained through sensory  

experience and cannot be understood independently  of reference to sensory knowledge. For example  

the statement “My dog is black” would not  be knowable without first gaining sight  

conformation of his black color. This knowledge  unlike a priori knowledge is subject to change  

upon one gaining broader evidence. Second we move to the senses,  

for Kant said “all knowledge begins with the  senses.” In order to understand Kant we must  

understand the terms phenomena and noumena  as he understood them, he believed that all  

objects can be categorized as one or the other. In regards to phenomena Kant explains this  

term as “the realities or appearances  that are interpreted from our minds.” 

And in regards to noumena he explains this  to be the things that exist regardless of  

our minds interpretations. Kant claimed  that this knowledge will always be unknown  

because we only have the ability to know the  world that is presented to us from our mind. 

Kant does not mean to convey that an  external world outside of our mind’s  

personal perception does not exist, but only  that our mind limits reality, that phenomena  

and phenomena only can be known since we only  know the world around us through our senses. 

I think an example is in order to better  explain. Let us take an orange as this  

example. We feel the shape and texture of the  its rind, the cool temperature of its core,  

we smell the citrus entering through our  nostrils, we see the bright orange color  

reflecting through our retinas, and we taste the  combination of sweetness and bitterness saturating  

our taste buds. When combined these sensations  have created this “thing” we name an orange,  

all of this is phenomena, what we can know.  Outside of these sensations we can conceive  

that this “thing” presumably still exists,  this is noumena and will always be unknowable  

as our sensation Kant believed is all that  we can truly know, anything else is only  

speculation. This is the limitation of the mind. He believed that speculation about noumena should  

be avoided and said that “metaphysics is  a dark ocean without shores or lighthouse,  

strewn with many a philosophic wreck.” Instead  of this speculation we should spend our hours  

examining our own mental abilities and how they  relate to what we perceive in our own personal  

reality. By this self-examination he thought that  we would learn more about important philosophic  

questions. With this view of metaphysics  I suppose Kant as said by Durant “did not  

foresee that the greatest of all metaphysical  tempests was to be of his own blowing.” 

The effort to answer these problems  that transcend sense-experience Kant  

calls his transcendental philosophy, and it  is not so much concerned with the objects,  

as with our a priori concepts of objects.  “Even so matter-of-fact a man as Schopenhauer,  

and rabid a heretic as Nietzsche, accepted him,  and looked upon his reduction of the world to  

mere appearance as the indispensable preliminary  of every possibly philosophy” – Will Durant. In  

future videos I plan to expatiate on this as  well as other aspects of Kant’s philosophy. 

I attempted to explain this small part of Kant’s  philosophy to the best of my current ability and  

as said earlier in the video the identity and  credibility of his philosophy remains debated. I  

hope this video has helped you understand this one  aspect of his incredibly complex philosophy. If  

you would like to learn more about Immanuel Kant  Will Durant recommended starting with Wallace’s  

Kant, and for a great criticism of his work to  read Schopenhauer’s World, Will, and idea. I could  

also recommend reading Durant’s section on Kant in  his book The Story of Philosophy; I will put the  

links to these as well as the audiobook version of  this work of Durant’s in the description below. I  

hope this video has helped you in some way, if so  don’t forget to subscribe to see more on eastern  

and western philosophy, as always, thank you  for talking philosophy with me, until next time.