involving deductive reasoning from a general principle to a necessary effect; not supported by fact; "an a priori judgment"
Characterizing that kind of reasoning which deduces consequences from definitions formed, or principles assumed, or which infers effects from causes previously known; deductive or deductively
Applied to knowledge and conceptions assumed, or presupposed, as prior to experience, in order to make experience rational or possible
An a priori argument, reason, or probability is based on an assumed principle or fact, rather than on actual observed facts. A priori is also an adverb. One assumes, a priori, that a parent would be better at dealing with problems. using previous experiences or facts to decide what the likely result or effect of something will be a posteriori. In epistemology, knowledge that is independent of all particular experiences, as opposed to a posteriori (or empirical) knowledge, which derives from experience. The terms have their origins in the medieval Scholastic debate over Aristotelian concepts (see Scholasticism). Immanuel Kant initiated their current usage, pairing the analytic-synthetic distinction with the a priori-a posteriori distinction to define his theory of knowledge
(from Latin) "from cause to effect", deductive, valid independently of observation, formed or conceived beforehand
involving deductive reasoning from a general principle to a necessary effect; not supported by fact; "an a priori judgment" based on hypothesis or theory rather than experiment derived by logic, without observed facts
based on hypothesis or theory rather than experiment derived by logic, without observed facts