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How do we know what exists

Hume's fork. We can only have knowledge of Relations of ideasMatters of factRelations of ideas are a priori and analyticMatters of fact are a posteriori and synthetic. Knowledge of matters of fact. Knowledge of matters of fact is always a posteriori and synthetic. We gain it by using observation and employing induction and reasoning about probability. The foundation of this knowledge is what we experience here and now, or can remember. .

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How do we know what exists

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    1. Š Michael Lacewing How do we know what exists? Michael Lacewing enquiries@alevelphilosophy.co.uk

    2. Hume’s fork We can only have knowledge of Relations of ideas Matters of fact Relations of ideas are a priori and analytic Matters of fact are a posteriori and synthetic

    3. Knowledge of matters of fact Knowledge of matters of fact is always a posteriori and synthetic. We gain it by using observation and employing induction and reasoning about probability. The foundation of this knowledge is what we experience here and now, or can remember.

    4. Causal inference All our knowledge that goes beyond what is present to our senses or memory rests on causal inference. We can’t know what causes what without investigating experience.

    5. A priori knowledge of what exists Some rationalists, e.g. Plato and Descartes, challenge Hume’s claim; we can use reason to prove what exists A priori demonstration and intuition Demonstration = deduction Intuition - e.g. how do you follow an argument?

    6. Descartes on the physical world We can be deceived by our senses. There are ‘no certain indications by which we may clearly distinguish wakefulness from sleep’.

    7. The cogito I am certain that I think, I exist. I am a thinking thing. But I am not certain I have a body. So I can exist without a body. (A priori reasoning)

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