|
||||||
|
||||||
There are two kinds of knowledge: a priori and a posteriori.
A priori knowledge consists of propositions that are knowable independently of experience of the world.
e.g. An octagon has eight sides.
I can know this by simply thinking about the concepts in question. If I understand what an octagon is, then I know that is has eight sides.
A posteriori knowledge consists of propositions that are known on the basis of empirical experience of the world.
e.g. Smoking is correlated with lung cancer.
To know this I need to make an empirical investigation.
Let's try a practice exercise...
Sort the white boxes into categories according to whether the propositions they contain are a priori or a posteriori.
Click on the image to open it in the editor. Note: editor will open in a new window.
After you've finished this exercise click on this thumbnail to see the model answer:
This material has been
developed independently of the International Baccalaureate, which in no way
endorses it. © Critical Thinking Skills BV 2013.
Rationale Exercises version 0.1,
