a priori(先验地):指不依赖具体经验或观察、仅凭逻辑推理、概念分析或既定前提就得出的判断或知识(常用于哲学、逻辑、学术写作)。也可泛指“在了解事实之前就先入为主地认为”。
/ˌeɪ praɪˈɔːraɪ/
We can’t assume success a priori.
我们不能先验地(在没有证据前)就假定会成功。
The theory was criticized because its conclusions were treated as a priori truths rather than being tested against real-world data.
这套理论受到批评,因为它把结论当作先验真理,而不是用真实世界的数据去检验。
来自拉丁语 a priori,字面义为“从更早的(事物)出发”,在哲学传统中引申为“从先于经验的原则出发”,与 a posteriori(后验地) 相对。