Thread by @ralphammer

If you are interested in truth, scientific knowledge or artistic beauty, there is no way around Immanuel Kant. He asked the simple question: “What can we know?“ His answer changed our understanding of the world: 🧵

There were two opposing groups:
𝗥𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁𝘀 take our 𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 as the source of all knowledge. Our senses might betray us, but 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲. Perhaps because it was created by a higher power.

𝗘𝗺𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗶𝘀𝘁𝘀 claim that it is all 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲, our minds are somewhat empty. 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 we know must have entered through our senses first. We must observe the outside world to learn what is going on.

So 𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁𝘀 think that we understand the world through 𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴—from the inside. 𝗘𝗺𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗶𝘀𝘁𝘀 believe that we learn about the world through 𝗼𝗯𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻—from the outside.

Both groups assume that our mind somehow adjusts to the world around us.

Immanuel Kant turns this around.

He says it’s not our mind that adjusts to the world; 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 𝗮𝗱𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱.

In other words, how we see the world is shaped by how we see and think. We can 𝗻𝗼𝘁 know the world 𝗮𝘀 𝗶𝘁 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗹𝘆 𝗶𝘀.

Our mind filters and shapes what we can know about the world.

So we must understand 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀.

And this is how 𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 and 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 work together:

Let’s start with our senses! All we get is raw data from the outside world. This data does not mean anything yet.

Thus, the first thing our sensibility does is to 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 that data in 𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲.

According to Kant, space and time are 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱. It is our sensibility that uses time and space to filter and structure what we observe.

He says that even mathematics is based on these two “pure forms of intuition”, where 𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗶𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 and 𝗴𝗲𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗿𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗲.

There is still a problem with our impressions: There are simply too many and they are too chaotic.

So now it is up to the 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 to reduce and organise this raw input. How? We combine 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘆 similar impressions 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗼𝗻𝗲 object.

We can take this even further: When we see many objects with similar properties, we can 𝗻𝗮𝗺𝗲 them, for example, as ‘cup’.

We have thereby grouped 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 under 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗽𝘁.

A 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗽𝘁 is a 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗲𝘀 a group of phenomena.

To understand something means to recognize relationships through concepts. We can now formulate 𝗷𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 like, ‘The cup is on the table.’

Our understanding determines how we form and connect such concepts. We do this according to certain rules, which Kant calls 𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴.

We can say things like, ‘𝗜𝗳 I drop the cup, 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻 it will break.’

What makes our insights objective, says Kant, is that 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 act of understanding must follow these categories. They are the 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 that makes objective knowledge possible.

Let’s keep in mind: We do 𝗻𝗼𝘁 have direct access to the things in themselves but we 𝗱𝗼 have access to the intuitions in our sensibility.

We combine these 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝘂𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 of the world with our 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗽𝘁𝘀 of thinking to get insights of the world!

But the story is not over yet.

Our understanding tempts us to think beyond what we can perceive. We can think about thinking. Kant calls this 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻.

In rather poetic terms he describes our mind as an island, which we can map out clearly. This 𝗶𝘀𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱 is placed 𝗶𝗻 𝗮𝗻 𝗼𝗰𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝘂𝗻𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄𝗻 “things in themselves” and is fed by waves of data and forms its own insights.

But the core of this island – 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻 – is not satisfied with this limitation.

For instance we might want to understand the infinity of space. Or how an infinite space is possible? And if it isn't … then what is beyond its borders? When did time start? Is there a God?

Kant says we can ponder these metaphysical questions but the tragedy is: we can 𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 answer them with certainty. They are mirages out there in the ocean which we can never know. There is no solid ground beyond our little island.

Finally, we can get to Kant’s answer. To gain insights about the world we need both: 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 from the outside and the 𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗳𝘆 them in our mind. Or as he put it:

“𝑻𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒆𝒎𝒑𝒕𝒚; 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒖𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒑𝒕𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒃𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒅.”

There are things though, that are beyond the understanding of this apparatus, like the infinite cosmos, the soul or God.