Aposteriori

Aposteriori is a Latin phrase meaning "from the latter." In philosophy, it refers to knowledge or justification that depends on experience or empirical evidence. This contrasts with apriori knowledge, which is independent of experience and is known through reason alone.

Aposteriori propositions are those whose truth or falsity can only be determined by observation, experimentation, or sensory input. For example, the statement "the sky is blue" is an aposteriori claim because its truth is verified by looking at the sky. Similarly, scientific laws are generally considered aposteriori, as they are derived from and tested against empirical data.

The concept of aposteriori knowledge is central to empiricism, a philosophical school that emphasizes the role of sensory experience in the formation of knowledge. Empiricist philosophers like John Locke and David Hume argued that the mind is a blank slate at birth (tabula rasa) and that all knowledge originates from sense impressions.

In everyday language, aposteriori reasoning is simply learning from experience. When we touch a hot stove and feel pain, we learn aposteriori that touching hot stoves is to be avoided. This type of learning is fundamental to human survival and development. The term is also used in probability theory to refer to updating probabilities based on new evidence, often as part of Bayes' theorem.