Theme 1 – Theory of knowledge and theory of science

1.     In the preface to the second edition of "Critique of Pure Reason" (page B xvi) Kant says: "Thus far it has been assumed that all our cognition must conform to objects. On that presupposition, however, all our attempts to establish something about them a priori, by means of concepts through which our cognition would be expanded, have come to nothing. Let us, therefore, try to find out by experiment whether we shall not make better progress in the problems of metaphysics if we assume that objects must conform to our cognition." How are we to understand this?

When Kant talks about conforming the objects to our cognition, instead of conforming our cognition to the objects, I believe he means that we need to think outside the box. If we do so we can find new viewpoints which might help us to understand a certain problem. I think that is what Copernicus did to find out that the Earth actually is moving around the sun and not the other way around. By stepping outside the box and look at the Earth instead of the stars Copernicus conformed the objects to his cognition and thereby got to a revolutionary conclusion.

2.       At the end of the discussion of the definition "Knowledge is perception", Socrates argues that we do not see and hear "with" the eyes and the ears, but "through" the eyes and the ears. How are we to understand this? And in what way is it correct to say that Soctrates argument is directed towards what we in modern terms call "empiricism"?

I believe that seeing through our eyes partly means that we can see even though we can’t see. Socrates talk about how a man who has lost his sight still can see things because he remember what they look like, therefore he see through his eyes instead of with them.

I also think that a difference, between seeing through our eyes and with our eyes, could be that we see with our eyes when we just see and we see through them when we are processing what we are seeing. For example, we can look at a coat with our eyes and just see a coat but we can also look at that coat through our eyes and see colors, patterns, details on buttons etc. Reflecting about this I actually started thinking about a quote from the TV-series “Sherlock”. Sherlock Holmes says to Watson; “As ever you see but you do not observe”. I think that this would be a case where Watson see with his eyes and Holmes see through his eyes.

Empiricism means that what have been proven by our experiences is reliable knowledge. Socrates argues that an experience for me not necessarily is the same as for someone else. I might experience that grass has a certain kind of green color while another person might experience this green as a different tone from mine. When talking about that “knowledge is perception” I think Socrates means that knowledge could be different to different people. And since our knowledge comes from our different experiences Socrates argument can be directed towards empiricism.