Anticipation

The second criterion of truth is the Prolepsis or Anticipation... the innate capacity to distinguish color is an anticipation of experience no less than the innate capacity to distinguish between justice and injustice... color-sense is part of the individuals preconditioning for life in his physical environment... while the sense of justice is part of the preconditioning for life in the social environment...

Obviously all living things are preconditioned for life in their terrestrial environment. Is it, then, inconsistent with observed fact to assume that human beings are preconditioned for life in their social environment?

To [Plato] the process of learning was one of reviving prenatal memories [due to the transmigration of the soul]... since [Epicurus] denied both the pre-existence and survival of the soul, found his explanation in the preconditioning of man by Nature for life in the prospective environment.

As Epicurus employed the term... it was no more possible to have a prolepsis of an ox than of a ,,, caterpillar tractor; the pre-existence of the idea in advance of experience was essential.

-NWD, p. 142-150

The prolepsis of Epicurus are obviously analogous to the a priori concepts of Kant. One can even see the pattern of Plato,Aristotle, & Epicurus replay in Berkely, Hume, & Kant. The Divine and time are even mentioned as anticipations, though the latter is confusing and not really comparable to Kant's notion. Epicurus hated geometry, probably due to how it lead to Platonism, so there's no mention of mathematical concepts, which were fundamental to Kant. Epicurus was more interested in biology, following in the footsteps of later Aristotle, so in many ways hits even closer to reality. After reading Kant, my main impression was that he really needed Darwin.