Summary of Kant's theory of knowledge, and how it contributes to Essay

Summary of Kant's theory of knowledge, and how it contributes to our understanding of the mind-body problem - Essay Example These former theories that had been set before Kant’s Theory were majorly classified as Empiricism and Rationalism. The Empiricists had earlier argued that knowledge of the environment and reason required a prior experience. The Rationalists, on the other hand, had stated that knowledge had to come first before experience; that one needed to have a prior experience of something before having the knowledge of the same. As can be seen, these two classical theories contradict each other. Therefore, Immanuel Kant was motivated to try and reconcile the two sides and bring to an end, what he had seen as an era of primitive and unsupported theories of knowledge and human experience. At the same time, he wanted to oppose the concepts and perceptions of Skepticism. In coming up with a more plausible theory of knowledge, Kant combined the two previously contradicting school of thoughts and argued that the understanding of the world by the human required both knowledge and experience. According to him, the Experience depends on both perception of the objects in the environment and the prior knowledge acquired about the very objects. In this manner, the external environment is very essential for the ‘self’ establishment. Kant further stated that the human experiences are well structured by the vital features of the mind. This concept implies that the human mind plays the sole responsibility of shaping and structuring our experiences such that all experiences have certain structural designs in common. Kant’s theory of knowledge helps us to understand that every aspect of the human is all in the mind and that one cannot perceive what he or she cannot experience. In as much Kant’s theory of knowledge seems to stand on a neutral ground, it has its potential problems, biasness and objections from some of the most recent philosophers. For