The philosophical progression begins with epistemology; the study of knowledge. The major obstacle that epistemology struggles with is the infinite regress of knowledge: it appears that any know principle can be questioned such that it is broken down into several, lower-level known principles. These principles are then questioned until they present more principles. This process continues ad nauseum. So, philosophers propose their first-principles: knowledge that is held to be true without any reason, for it is in some way inarguably true. The perfect first-principle is one that is known to be true by its very nature. This is knowledge. Not necessarily correct knowledge, nor necessarily useful knowledge, but knowledge in the most general sense. Knowledge is the perfect first principle, because regardless of whether or not the knowledge itself is true, the presence of knowledge must be. Additionally, some knowledges are known to be true through their very nature: the senses. One cannot deny their own senses, for they know the senses to be true, for senses are pure knowledges, devoid of any additional attributes. Thus, one is perfectly aware of the truth that red exists, as red is uniquely presented through the senses as a knowledge, and it is of pure simplicity.
The senses appear in three forms: active senses, passive senses, and divine senses.
The active senses are those that are most commonly considered "senses". This includes sight, hearing, taste, etc. These are considered "active" as they are always present, non-negotiably. One cannot choose to stop seeing through their own will.[1] What if I gouge my eyes out? Additionally, the active senses are understood to be of the present moment, though we will discuss time later.
The passive senses are best understood as one's memorized senses and imagined senses. The memorized senses would appear to be indistinguishable to the active senses without knowledge of time (such as in memories) or will (such as in imagined senses).
The divine senses are the knowledges of non-trivial inconceivables[2]. Inconceivables are objects that exist but cannot be conceived through reason, though they may still be known through the divine senses. Time (or, more specifically, the forwards progression in time) is an inconceivable, for one who has no understanding of time cannot reason themselves to understand it without knowing of it first. Inconceivables come of two varities: trivial inconceivables, which contain no useful knowledge by themselves, and non-trivial inconceivables, which do hold useful knowledge by themselves. "Red" would be a trivial inconceivable, for one cannot reason themselves to know of the color red without first sensing it, though its only attribute is its distinction from other colors. "Time" is a non-trivial inconceivable, for it is fundamentally distinct from other objects in more ways than simply being of a different object. The knowledge of time produces a shift in the understanding of other objects, something red does not.
Time (still in the form of forwards progression, not simply as a dimensional property) is necessary for understanding the difference between the memorized passive senses and the active senses, which would be indistinguishable otherwise. What currently is would be understood with the same weight as that which was. With time, a distinction can be made between what knowledge is currently true, and which was true in the past. Thus a progression can form that allows cause-effect reasoning, and experimentation through the will.
Will, as in first-cause actualization consequent of a subject, is another non-trivial inconceviable that is understood through a divine sense. It is paired with an active-sense that attributes will to one's other active-senses.[3] What if the active-sense of will is false? This allows one to tell which actions they will, and allows one to understand things through experimentation. Once the material world is discovered, the will is what allows one to differntiate their physical body from the surroundings.
Through exposure to the senses one notices patterns. Through exposure to the patterns of senses one develops an understanding of shapes. Exposure to the same objects in different moments in time allows one to understand that, typically, objects sustain their existence throughout multiple points in time. Repeated exposure to the changes of objects' shapes, sizes and locations in response to will allows for the understanding of three-dimensional space and one's place in it. Before long, one begins to understand the physical world as you and I know it. These patterns extend towards abstract objects such as words or concepts. At this moment, the discussion begins to shift towards metaphysics, which is beyond the scope of this article.