What does a priori mean? Today this word can often be heard in conversations, on television, as well as in books and the press. At the same time, not everyone knows the true meaning of the term.
In this article we will look at what the word "a priori" means, as well as in what areas it is applicable.
What is a priori in everyday communication
A priori is knowledge acquired before experience and independently of it, that is, knowledge, as it were, known in advance. In simple words, a priori - this is a kind of statement of something obvious and does not require proof.
Thus, when a person uses this concept, he does not need to confirm his speech or text with facts, since everything is already clear.
For example, the sum of the angles in a triangle is always 180⁰ a priori. After such a phrase, a person does not need to prove why it is exactly 180⁰, since this is a well-known and obvious fact.
However, the word "a priori" can not always act as a true statement. For example, several centuries ago, people confidently said that: "The earth is a priori flat" and at that time it was "obvious."
It follows from this that often the generally accepted opinion can be erroneous.
Besides, quite often people can deliberately use the term "a priori" knowing that their words are deliberately false. For example: “I am always right a priori” or “I don’t make mistakes in life”.
Yet this concept is usually used in cases where the evidence base is not really required. A priori synonyms are such expressions as "quite obviously", "no one will argue that", "I will not surprise anyone if I say that", etc.
In conclusion, I would like to add that this word has a rather ancient history. It was once actively used by ancient Greek philosophers, including Aristotle.
Translated from Latin "a priori" literally means "from the previous one." At the same time, the a priori opposite is - a posteriori (lat. A posteriori - "from the next") - knowledge acquired from experience.
Although this word has changed its meaning more than once in history, today it has the meaning mentioned above.
