Kant suggested that humans have two basic ways of knowing, a priori and a posteriori. These two kinds of knowledge are key to the development of human consciousness, instrumental in the pursuit of a moral and constructive state of being—which Kant calls "Pure Reason." Kant's "Noumenal Principle," what we might call the unknowable, is that which is beyond experience but somehow involved in it—something like Madame Blavatsky's "unutterable" or Thoreau's "impersonal spectator." According to Kant, a priori knowledge emerges from this Noumenal Principle, this "unknowable." It is, in effect, a representative of the Noumenal Principle deep within the human consciousness. And it recognizes a "voice from afar," independent of human experience as we know it. It precedes human experience and serves as a sort of judge and jury (conscience). This is also what Carl Jung would latter call "The Collective Consciousness."
For Kant, it is possible for human beings to remain largely unaware of the a priori knowledge available to them. Manifestation of a priori knowledge is dependent in part upon Time, or the readiness (precision) to manifest, and Space, or the direction of its influence. It is also dependent upon moral development. People who adhere to certain moral principles allow a priori knowledge to unfold into consciousness and become available for use—much as etheric energies blend, by way of chakras, into electromagnetic states the body can use.
There are four "moral principles," and they are:
1. Transcendental Aesthetic: The concept of innate goodness, metaphysical transcendence motivates the use of a priori knowledge and also becomes the modus operandi for its use.
2. Synthetic Judgment: a deductive process by which one can move the a priori toward its objective. this is the moment of enlightenment. Kant declares that a sense of "revelation" furthers synthetic judgment and opens the way to wisdom.
3. Intuition: this is spiritual awareness and the understanding of one's own powers.
4. Descending Will: This can be defined as "action," by which one makes use of Time and Space to develop the will to enter the exalted state of Pure Reason.
For Kant, a posteriori knowledge, or knowledge gained by experience, is a product of the Phenomenal Principle. It is exoteric, shadowed by the world of sense perception, and regulated to a large extent by the basic instincts of Experience and Assimilation. These two represent the physical exposure to the elemental realities of the corporeal world and an intellectual growth of the world as it is -- I told you this shit is heavy.
Finally, the pragmatic value of Kant's philosophy lies in its exploration of the relationship between Thought, a well-adjusted thinking process and attitude, and Action, rational behavior under all circumstances. Immanuel Kant might leave the esoteric mind somewhat unfulfilled, but we must realize the reactionary atmosphere at the time and place in which he made his ideas known. These ideas made a profound and expansive impact upon the somewhat crystallized boundaries of academic philosophy which resulted in the popular adage, "If you do not know Kant, you do not know Philosophy." Western philosophy and theology have been forced to acknowledge the basic fact of our incarnation and the sources of wisdom that lie therein.
