... Rather than the traditional assumption that our ways of thought are determined by our experience with some inherent nature of things-in-themselves, Kant questions whether it may not be that our experiences with things are constructed by our ways of thought. Through this revolution Kant builds a bridge between the opposing sides, allowing for some knowledge a priori (before experience).2 He distinguishes between the noumenal world, which contains things-in-themselves and other transcendental ideas outside of experience, and the phenomenal world, which is the world as it appears to be and with which we can interact via experience. We are capable of a priori3 knowledge solely with respect to how we organize the appearances of the phenomena.4 He identifies two components of our perceptions of appearances, sensibility and understanding. It is by way of our sensibility that we are passively (inasmuch as we exert no influence over them) given those immediate perceptions (i.e. ...

See this essay or coursework document in full right now