Making Sense of Kant Faced the twin issues of Western philosophy: individual v collective meaning v emptiness Lived and taught in the late 1700s Opened the door toward Romanticism

Can we have certain knowledge?  Define knowledge: certainty v probability  Define the means and limits of the sources of knowledge –Reason –Experience –Intuition !  Be sure to ask the correct questions!

Conclusions re knowledge:  Reason (logic) give us certain truth  Experience gives us probable truth  Intuition gives us innate truth For any question in any area, ask for warrants using the appropriate methods

Each area has its truths:  Reason –Logic –Categories of the mind –Meanings –Sense of the whole

 Experience –Personal truth –Social possibility –Science probability –Sense of life experience Each area has its truths:

 Judgment: intuitive or innate –Morality –Art –Self or soul –God –The meaning of life

We do have knowledge: Some rational truths Some innate truths Some experiential truths Our sense of truth World view Philosophy