Skip to main content

A Priori and A Posteriori

This video presents the same text shown beside it, spoken and on screen. It adds nothing the text does not say.

State

A priori knowledge is justified independently of experience; a posteriori knowledge is justified by experience. The distinction concerns justification, not how concepts were learned.

Show

"Seven plus five equals twelve"—a priori. "The kettle is boiling"—a posteriori.

Watch for

You needed experience to learn the numerals. That does not make arithmetic a posteriori—check where the justification comes from.