The terms '''''a priori''''' ("prior to") and ''a posteriori'' ("subsequent to") are used in [[philosophy]] ([[epistemology]]) to distinguish two [[types]] of [[knowledge]], justifications or [[arguments]]. A priori knowledge or justification is [[independent]] of [[experience]] (for example 'All bachelors are unmarried'); a posteriori knowledge or justification is dependent on experience or empirical [[evidence]] (for example 'Some bachelors are very happy'). A priori justification makes [[reference]] to [[experience]]; but the issue concerns how one knows the proposition or claim in question—what justifies or grounds one's [[belief]] in it. Galen Strawson wrote that an a priori [[argument]] is one of which "you can see that it is true just lying on your couch. You don't have to get up off your couch and go outside and [[examine]] the way [[things]] are in the [[physical]] world. You don't have to do any [[science]]." There are many [[points of view]] on these two types of assertion, and their [[relationship]] is one of the oldest problems in modern [[philosophy]]. | The terms '''''a priori''''' ("prior to") and ''a posteriori'' ("subsequent to") are used in [[philosophy]] ([[epistemology]]) to distinguish two [[types]] of [[knowledge]], justifications or [[arguments]]. A priori knowledge or justification is [[independent]] of [[experience]] (for example 'All bachelors are unmarried'); a posteriori knowledge or justification is dependent on experience or empirical [[evidence]] (for example 'Some bachelors are very happy'). A priori justification makes [[reference]] to [[experience]]; but the issue concerns how one knows the proposition or claim in question—what justifies or grounds one's [[belief]] in it. Galen Strawson wrote that an a priori [[argument]] is one of which "you can see that it is true just lying on your couch. You don't have to get up off your couch and go outside and [[examine]] the way [[things]] are in the [[physical]] world. You don't have to do any [[science]]." There are many [[points of view]] on these two types of assertion, and their [[relationship]] is one of the oldest problems in modern [[philosophy]]. |