Dr Faustus of Modern Physics - Department of Speech, Music and ...

21.4. KANT’S SYNTHETIC A PRIORI 97
As indicated, it is still almost 100 years later unclear if the equality of
inertial and heavy mass as the basic Law underlying general relativity, is a
definition or a fact, a clear sign of mastery or the inventor of the Law.
21.4 Kant’s Synthetic A Priori
Kant helped Einstein to formulate his double analytic-synthetic axioms of
relativity by suggesting that there are synthetic propositions which can be
decided to be true before observation of reality, referred to as synthetic a
priori propositions. So Kant himself mixed analytic with synthetic, which
Einstein played on so cleverly.
Kant suggests that the truth of a synthetic a priori statement is based
on pure intuitions or our a priori formal representations of space and time.
In other words, we can use our own brains as the test bench for the truth
of a non-analytic statement without reference to any exterior reality. Thus
the brain is supposed to check out itself in a self-referential procedure, which
connects to deep questions about mind and self...
A synthetic a priori statement could thus be true for all humans with rational
human brains, but not necessarily in all logically possible worlds, where
only analytic statements could be true a priori without exterior observation.
In the spirit of Kant we may thus ask if Einstein’s Laws of constancy of
the speed of light and the equality of intertial and heavy mass, are synthetic
a priori statements, which we can verify by “pure intuition”? Maybe Einstein
could but it is not all clear that anyone of us is able to do so. Maybe Einstein
by “pure intuition” could understand that “space-time is curved”, but my
intuition seems to lack this capability...
In any case, in science it is essential to make a clear distinction between
a definition and synthetic statement and not flip back an forth using double
definition-synthetic statements. To nevertheless do so represents a deal with
the Devil, which ultimately will take its toll.