posteriorikunskap

Posteriorikunskap, often rendered as a posteriori knowledge, denotes knowledge that depends on experience or observation. It stands in contrast to a priori knowledge, which is thought to be knowable independently of sensory input and reasoning alone. A posteriori knowledge arises from sense perception, experiments, and empirical data, and it underpins the methods and claims of the empirical sciences.

The distinction has deep historical roots in epistemology. Ancient and medieval thinkers emphasized knowledge grounded in observation, while early modern philosophers formalized the split between what can be known through experience and what can be known through reason alone. The Latin term a posteriori appears in philosophical writings from the Enlightenment onward, and it gained particular prominence in discussions of science, epistemology, and metaphysics. Immanuel Kant provided a nuanced account, arguing that while much knowledge originates from experience, the mind also supplies a priori structures that shape how that experience yields understanding.

Examples of posteriori knowledge include empirical generalizations derived from observation, such as measurements, experimental results, and statistical inferences. Scientific conclusions are typically grounded in posteriori knowledge because they are warranted by data gathered from the natural world. However, not all empirical claims are unproblematic; hypotheses require extensive testing and replication to gain robust support, and observations can be theory-laden or biased.

Critiques of a posteriori knowledge focus on issues such as the problem of induction, which questions the justification for generalizing from past to future or from sample to population. Despite these challenges, posteriori knowledge remains foundational to science and everyday understanding, illustrating how experience informs rational belief and knowledge claims.