Metaphysica 9 (2):57-68 (2008)
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Abstract |
In this paper I will offer a novel understanding of a priori knowledge. My claim is that the sharp distinction that is usually made between a priori and a posteriori knowledge is groundless. It will be argued that a plausible understanding of a priori and a posteriori knowledge has to acknowledge that they are in a constant bootstrapping relationship. It is also crucial that we distinguish between a priori propositions that hold in the actual world and merely possible, non-actual a priori propositions, as we will see when considering cases like Euclidean geometry. Furthermore, contrary to what Kripke seems to suggest, a priori knowledge is intimately connected with metaphysical modality, indeed, grounded in it. The task of a priori reasoning, according to this account, is to delimit the space of metaphysically possible worlds in order for us to be able to determine what is actual.
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Keywords | a priori a posteriori knowledge necessity possibility modality essences metaphysical possibility |
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DOI | 10.1007/s12133-007-0022-7 |
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References found in this work BETA
Naming and Necessity: Lectures Given to the Princeton University Philosophy Colloquium.Saul A. Kripke - 1980 - Cambridge, MA, USA: Harvard University Press.
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Citations of this work BETA
A Priori and A Posteriori: A Bootstrapping Relationship.Tuomas E. Tahko - 2011 - Metaphysica 12 (2):151-164.
The Epistemic Significance of Valid Inference – A Model-Theoretic Approach.Constantin C. Brîncuș - 2015 - In Sorin Costreie & Mircea Dumitru (eds.), Meaning and Truth. Bucharest: PRO Universitaria Publishing. pp. 11-36.
The Metaphysical Status of Logic.Tuomas E. Tahko - 2008 - In Michal Peliš (ed.), The Logica Yearbook 2007. Filosofia.
The Aristotelian Method and Aristotelian Metaphysics.Tuomas E. Tahko - 2008 - In Patricia Hanna (ed.), An Anthology of Philosophical Studies. ATINER.
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