The Synthetic A Posteriori Judgment in Kant By Anton Fejfar, B.A., J.D., Phd. Perpetual (C)Copyright (2012 C.E.

) By Anthony J. Fejfar and Neothomism P.C. (PA) The Philosopher, Emmanuel Kant distinguishes synthetic a posteriori judgments for the analytic a priori. In so doing, Kant is following the epistemology of Aristotle, Plato, and Socrates, as well as Aquainas. As Bernard Lonergan and Father Coreth tell us, the basic cognitional-process-structure is: Experience, Understanding, and Judgment. Now, Experience is phemomenological, while Understanding is analytic a prior relative to judgment, and Judgment is synthetic a posteriori relative to both Experience and analytic a priori Understanding. Now, let us take an example to illustrate this: I experience the tree with sight, touch, hearing, taste. I then understand the tree by developing or labeling ideas in relation to the foregoing experience of the tree, and also am able to compare and contrast any ideas in relation to the tree. Finally, I use analogical judgment to judge that my understanding of the tree and my experience of the tree are closely or substantially analogous. Thus, I can make an analogical judgment of fact, that is, a probable judgment of fact that the tree that I have experienced, is in fact a tree. In terms of the Kantian categories, discussed above, it is apparent that synthetic a posteriori judgment for Kant is in fact analogical level 3, a posteriori judgment. Thus, I assert that the

word analogical should be substituted for the word synthetic in Kant. That which is analogical is that which involves an analogy, which is defined as two objects and or subjects which have 5 or more aspect in common but not all aspects in common. Thus a synthetic a posteriori judgment in Kant is an analogical judgment of fact, also known as a probable judgment

of fact.