A Guide to Philosophy in Six Hours and Fifteen Minutes by Witold Gombrowicz, Benjamin Ivry Page B
Authors: Witold Gombrowicz, Benjamin Ivry
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will say so magnificently.
—There is no point in asking whether one should do philosophy or not.We do philosophy because we must.It is inevitable.Our consciousness asks us questions and we must try to resolve them.Philosophy is a necessary thing.
What was the most profound vision of the world in the 18th century?One finds it in Kant, without whom it would be impossible to know the development of consciousness through the centuries.Philosophy is needed for a global view of culture.It is important for writers.
Philosophy allows us to organize culture, to introduce order, to find ourselves, and to attain intellectual confidence.
Second Lesson
Monday, April 28, 1969
Kant: The Categories
Two elements do not belong to external reality, but are injected by us into the object: space and time.
Space is not an object, but the condition for every possible object.
The reasoning is the same for time.
Time is not a thing that can be tested, but all things are in time.
One can very well imagine time without phenomena, but it is impossible to imagine a phenomenon without time.
Same argument for space.
One cannot imagine different time (like objects: table, chair).Time is always the same.It does not derive from our observation of the external world but is a direct intuition, an intuitive knowledge, that is, an immediate knowledge.
We need to add that time permits a priori synthetic judgments in arithmetic.The impressions that we have of the external world follow each other in succession; this is what arithmetic is about: 1-2-3-4.It is a sequence.
A priori synthetic judgments are confirmed in experience because they are carried out in time.In the same way, all judgments related to mathematics are a priori synthetic judgments, confirmed by experience.
Transcendental Analysis
Transcendental analysis takes the physical sciences as its object, since physics unites everything that we know about the world.
I repeat: Kant does not speak much about consciousness, but rather about pure reason.
Why?
Because it involves an organized, rational knowledge, which appears in science.Here we arrive at a very beautiful Kantian inspiration which resembles the Copernican revolution.Just as Copernicus immobilized the sun and made the earth move, Kant demonstrates that only the co-relativity of subject and object can form a reality .The object must be seized by consciousness in order to form reality in time and space.In physics (Newton), we have direct knowledge about a priori things.
Example, we can affirm forever (absolute) that all phenomena are subject to the law of causality and Newton’s famous law that action equals reaction, for instance [ sentence incomplete ].
Once again: how can a priori synthetic judgments be possible in physics?
Kant’s great coup: our knowledge pertaining to such things is expressed by judgments .
Kant took up the classification of judgments according to Aristotelian logic (which was valid in Kant’s day).
Aristotle’s judgments can be classified by the following criteria:1. Quantity .Example: individual judgments which relate to a single phenomenon.But if you make a judgment like: certain men are white, then you express a particular judgment.
One can also express as judgment that all men are mortal.
2. Quality .Affirmative judgments A.
negative ones B.
infinitive ones C.
(which lead to an infinite judgment: example, fish are not birds).
Kant’s discovery consists in deducing—in eliciting— a category from each of these judgments.
Example: A.affirmative judgment: “You are French.”
(category: UNITY ).
B.particular judgment: “Certain men are mortal.”
(category of MULTIPLE )C.universal judgment: “All men are mortal.”
(category of the set: TOTALITY ).
Consciousness is the fundamental thing.
Object-subject: nothing more.
1.consciousness cannot be a mechanism, nor broken up into parts, because it has no parts.It is a whole.
2.consciousness cannot be conditioned by science.It is
—There is no point in asking whether one should do philosophy or not.We do philosophy because we must.It is inevitable.Our consciousness asks us questions and we must try to resolve them.Philosophy is a necessary thing.
What was the most profound vision of the world in the 18th century?One finds it in Kant, without whom it would be impossible to know the development of consciousness through the centuries.Philosophy is needed for a global view of culture.It is important for writers.
Philosophy allows us to organize culture, to introduce order, to find ourselves, and to attain intellectual confidence.
Second Lesson
Monday, April 28, 1969
Kant: The Categories
Two elements do not belong to external reality, but are injected by us into the object: space and time.
Space is not an object, but the condition for every possible object.
The reasoning is the same for time.
Time is not a thing that can be tested, but all things are in time.
One can very well imagine time without phenomena, but it is impossible to imagine a phenomenon without time.
Same argument for space.
One cannot imagine different time (like objects: table, chair).Time is always the same.It does not derive from our observation of the external world but is a direct intuition, an intuitive knowledge, that is, an immediate knowledge.
We need to add that time permits a priori synthetic judgments in arithmetic.The impressions that we have of the external world follow each other in succession; this is what arithmetic is about: 1-2-3-4.It is a sequence.
A priori synthetic judgments are confirmed in experience because they are carried out in time.In the same way, all judgments related to mathematics are a priori synthetic judgments, confirmed by experience.
Transcendental Analysis
Transcendental analysis takes the physical sciences as its object, since physics unites everything that we know about the world.
I repeat: Kant does not speak much about consciousness, but rather about pure reason.
Why?
Because it involves an organized, rational knowledge, which appears in science.Here we arrive at a very beautiful Kantian inspiration which resembles the Copernican revolution.Just as Copernicus immobilized the sun and made the earth move, Kant demonstrates that only the co-relativity of subject and object can form a reality .The object must be seized by consciousness in order to form reality in time and space.In physics (Newton), we have direct knowledge about a priori things.
Example, we can affirm forever (absolute) that all phenomena are subject to the law of causality and Newton’s famous law that action equals reaction, for instance [ sentence incomplete ].
Once again: how can a priori synthetic judgments be possible in physics?
Kant’s great coup: our knowledge pertaining to such things is expressed by judgments .
Kant took up the classification of judgments according to Aristotelian logic (which was valid in Kant’s day).
Aristotle’s judgments can be classified by the following criteria:1. Quantity .Example: individual judgments which relate to a single phenomenon.But if you make a judgment like: certain men are white, then you express a particular judgment.
One can also express as judgment that all men are mortal.
2. Quality .Affirmative judgments A.
negative ones B.
infinitive ones C.
(which lead to an infinite judgment: example, fish are not birds).
Kant’s discovery consists in deducing—in eliciting— a category from each of these judgments.
Example: A.affirmative judgment: “You are French.”
(category: UNITY ).
B.particular judgment: “Certain men are mortal.”
(category of MULTIPLE )C.universal judgment: “All men are mortal.”
(category of the set: TOTALITY ).
Consciousness is the fundamental thing.
Object-subject: nothing more.
1.consciousness cannot be a mechanism, nor broken up into parts, because it has no parts.It is a whole.
2.consciousness cannot be conditioned by science.It is
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