228
THE STAR
IN THE WEST
the
object
is unknowable per
se , the subject
is also
unknowable per
se , because
they
both
vary ,
conse
quently
ontology
is
impossible
.
But
the
laws
and
forms of thoughts are universal
and irrefragable
, and
form
an
unalterable
standard
of certainty
whereby
knowledge
may be increased .
A priori laws are not
derived
from
experience , but
belong
to the inherent
structure
of
the
mind .
Kant
then
sets
himself to
answer
the
question
:
How
are
synthetic
judge
ments à priori possible
? And his answer
is :-Unless
cognitions are synthetical
they can add nothing to our
previous
knowledge, unless
à priori they
cannot
be
universal
, unless
universal
they
cannot
be apodictic
ally true .
Kant's reasoning
runs
as follows : Firstly ,
there
is a sensibility, a power
of being
affected
by
objects , a passive faculty ; secondly , an understanding,
a faculty recognizing the affectations
of the sensibility,
this is active , and responds
to stimulation . The sensi
bility , however , has
its
laws
,
and
to
discover
them
,
we
must
separate
those
which are
multiple
from
those
which
are one
.
The objects
are variable
,
the
passive
functions
of
the mind
remain
invariable
,
the multiple
he
calls the material
,
the invariable
he
christens
form
---
Space and Time
.
Space
and
Time
are
therefore
the
indispensable
conditions
of
all
sensation
,
and according
to
Kant are
not deducible
from
experience
,
consequently
they are
à
priori
.
The understanding
,
similarly
as
the
sensi
bility
,
possesses
certain
forms
called
judgements
,
of
which
there are four classes
:
“
quantity
,
quality
,
rela
tion
,
and modality
."
These are the
à
priori categories
of
the understanding
,
and they are synthetic
.
This
à
priori
(
Crowleyanity affirms
)
is
no
innate
in
tuition
at
all
,
in
fact
merely
an
abstraction
from
ex