The Constitutive A Priori

The question of the a priori—can an adequate epistemology be developed without appeal to a non-empirical source of justification?—is a core issue running throughout the history of philosophy, and recent decades have seen some provocative and potentially epochal work on the issue. Arthur Sullivan provides a clear-headed evaluation of the upshot of these developments. He argues that the notion of the constitutive a priori provides the best means, all things considered, of accommodating these recent developments into a coherent, compelling view.The constitutive a priori is most commonly known as a position within the philosophy of science, holding that one of Kant’s signature moves provides the means to incorporate unforeseen drastic shocks into existing theory. This book shows that this notion of the constitutive a priori provides not merely a satisfactory epistemological framework, but, further, a compelling way to accommodate and integrate some of the most significant lessons learned in twentieth century philosophy. Its distinctive contribution lies in the case it builds for taking this constitutive a priori orientation as a good means of integrating and consolidating certain epochal insights of Wittgenstein, Carnap, Quine, Kripke, and Kaplan.

“"This is an outstandingly clear and well informed discussion of a perennial philosophical topic, which covers a variety of approaches in a way that encourages--and exemplifies--open-mindedness. It is good for a solitary reader or for a class and should inspire further thinking about this important notion of being a priori."”

“This is an outstandingly clear and well informed discussion of a perennial philosophical topic, which covers a variety of approaches in a way that encourages—and exemplifies—open-mindedness. It is good for a solitary reader or for a class and should inspire further thinking about this important notion of being a priori.” -- James Cargile, University of Virginia
“Sullivan gets the constitutive a priori just right by emphasizing that it is the role that an element of knowledge plays that makes it constitutively a priori, not its content. By discussing the constitutive a priori in the context of the literature in analytic epistemology and semantics, he breaks new ground and shows that the theory meshes nicely with some of the most significant developments in twentieth century philosophy. The book is extremely well written, well documented, and well argued, and it provides an important contribution to the growing literature on the relative, dynamic, or constitutive a priori.” -- David J. Stump, University of San Francisco

Arthur Sullivan is associate professor of philosophy at Memorial University of Newfoundland.

The question of the a priori-can an adequate epistemology be developed without appeal to a non-empirical source of justification?-is a core issue running throughout the history of philosophy, and recent decades have seen some provocative and potentially epochal work on the issue. Arthur Sullivan provides a clear-headed evaluation of the upshot of these developments. He argues that the notion of the constitutive a priori provides the best means, all things considered, of accommodating these recent developments into a coherent, compelling view. The constitutive a priori is most commonly known as a position within the philosophy of science, holding that one of Kant's signature moves provides the means to incorporate unforeseen drastic shocks into existing theory. This book shows that this notion of the constitutive a priori provides not merely a satisfactory epistemological framework, but, further, a compelling way to accommodate and integrate some of the most significant lessons learned in twentieth century philosophy. Its distinctive contribution lies in the case it builds for taking this constitutive a priori orientation as a good means of integrating and consolidating certain epochal insights of Wittgenstein, Carnap, Quine, Kripke, and Kaplan.

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