A priori and a posteriori

("from the earlier") and  ("from the later") are Latin phrases used in philosophy to see what is different between some types of knowledge, reasoning, or argument by their reliance on evidence or experience based on experience.  knowledge is independent from current experience (e.g., as part of a new study). Examples include mathematics,Some  philosophers have contended that mathematics comes from experience and is not a form of any a priori knowledge () tautologies, and deduction from pure reason. has stated that an  argument is one in 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." ()  knowledge depends on . Examples include most fields of science and aspects of .

The terms originate from the analytic methods found in Organon, a collection of works by Aristotle. Prior analytics () is about deductive logic, which comes from definitions and first principles. Posterior analytics () is about inductive logic, which comes from observational evidence.

Both terms appear in Euclid's Elements and were popularized by Immanuel Kant's Critique of Pure Reason, an influential work in the history of philosophy. Both terms are primarily used as  to the noun "knowledge" (i.e. " knowledge").  can be used to modify other nouns such as "truth". Philosophers may use apriority, apriorist, and aprioricity as nouns referring to the quality of being .

 Related pages 
Epistemology

 References 






Category:Epistemology
Category:Conceptual distinctions