Questions tagged [analytic-synthetic-divide]
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Why can we not reduce necessity to analyticity?
Why can’t we eliminate talk of necessity and possible worlds, for talk of analyticity and (non-modal) logical consistency? Has there been any attempt in recent times to do this? I'm not 100% sure, but ...
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2answers
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Can “knowledge” only be synthetic according to Kant?
I have read secondary sources claiming that Kant conceives of knowledge as a strictly synthetic affair, and that analytic judgments are thus not knowledge. This is relatively consistent with what Kant ...
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Does Kant consider extendedness metaphysically (analytic) a priori?
In Kant's famous division between a priori vs a postriori, and synthetic vs analytic, Kant's example for a priori analytic proposition is:
All bodies are extended.
Without immediately delving ...
2
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1answer
220 views
Are propositions in mathematics synthetic or analytic?
I'm reading Kant's Critique of Pure Reason and I understand that he thought that "Mathematical Judgements are all synthetic". I would like to know where does this debate lies or if it is of interest ...
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2answers
244 views
What is the use of analytic propositions?
[Note: I'm using Kant's terms.]
Analytic proposition, for example "all bodies are extended", or "a=a", seems like an unhelpful type of proposition (contra to the synthetic a priori and a postriori ...
0
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1answer
66 views
Role of definitions in analytic–synthetic distinction
A: All bachelors are unmarried
B: Water is liquid
We all agree that A is analytic. To prove its truth, we only need to replace "bachelor" with its definition. The proposition B can be controversial,...
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0answers
174 views
A priori and a posteriori within an axiomatic framework?
I am not a philosopher, so please excuse my limited understanding of these basic philosophy concepts. I am having some difficulty understanding what truly constitutes an a priori statement/truth (I'm ...
3
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1answer
262 views
Quine on Necessity
Lately, I have been reading some of Quine's works on modality. I can't help but feel that many of his pronouncements on modality are wrong/misguided, although pinpointing exactly where is goes wrong ...
7
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1answer
544 views
What would be gained philosophically if logicism succeeds?
Any logic similar to predicate logic (which Frege and Russell used?) is already a pretty complicated system. Its axioms don't seem to have something to do with analyticity as conceived by Kant (“...
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56 views
Is the location of Wyoming a posteriori and analytic?
I answered the following question, but wasn't absolutely sure that I did so viably:
Fallacy?: "Wyoming - It's like no place on Earth"
Is the location of places, like Wyoming on earth, ...
5
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2answers
500 views
If one agrees with Quine's dissolution of the Analytic/Synthetic distinction, what is left of Kant's epistemology?
One of Kant's most important (if not the most important) result is his argument (proof?) that synthetic a priori knowledge is possible.
If one agrees with Quine's argument against Analyticity as ...
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0answers
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Rethinking arithmetic operations after J.L. Austin's performativity?
According to Kant, arithmetic statements such as "7+5=12" are synthetic a priori. Could we alternatively think of this not as a statement, but as an arithmetic-logic operation to be executed (like a ...
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1answer
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Does 5 + 7 = 12 really say anything new?
I'm not sure why 5 + 7 = 12 should say anything new: I take it to be a shorthand notation to give a name to 5 + 7, which anyway is nothing but 5 times the unit + 7 times the unit, so there is not ...
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4answers
298 views
Redefining the Analytic/Synthetic Distinction in Terms of Computational Complexity
I've been reading Kant for the first time and encountered Quine's objections to the analytic/synthetic distinction and am want to agree that they feel a little obscure in their definitions. That is, ...
3
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2answers
563 views
Kant's analytic/synthetic propositions
In the Critique of Pure Reason, an example of an analytic proposition is that all bodies are extended, and an example of a synthetic proposition is that all bodies are heavy (A7|B11), however in the ...
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2answers
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The Analytic/Synthetic Distinction in false mathematical propositions
Are all mathematical propositions a priori analytic?
The most common example used is 2+2=4. The truth lies in the meaning of the parts of the proposition, and is therefore a priori analytic.
But ...
2
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3answers
242 views
Is the existence of a thing an analytic proposition?
Is the existence (existence or subsistance) of a thing an analytic proposition?
If I talk about a thing x, any thing, and say "x exists", would it be an analytic proposition? I think it would be ...
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2answers
511 views
Is this proposition analytic or synthetic?
Consider the following statement:
Cats have four legs
This is an analytic statement, since its truth can be established by looking at the subject and predicate; one does not need to look further ...
3
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1answer
246 views
Is Quine's epistemology really just a linguistic reinterpretation of Kant's?
Kant's epistemology: There are facts out there, but we can never access them directly, we can only perceive them the way they are presented to us by our own minds.
Quine: There are facts out there, ...
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3answers
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What's the current status of the “paradox of analysis”? And are there any strong and widely accepted resolutions?
It would seem that figuring out a solution to the paradox of analysis would be of prime importance to philosophers, especially considering the fact that conceptual analysis seems central to ...
7
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2answers
665 views
Quine - two dogmas of empiricism
I'm trying to understand this paper. Seems to me like it all stems from a rejection of "meaning"... ie: Quine is saying statements don't mean anything. And this is what leads to the rejection of the ...
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4answers
183 views
Is it possible to argue that ideas don't exist, only facts exist?
I was thinking that even Hume, or the Logical Positivists, despite being the standard bearers of empiricism, still hold on to a lingering rationalism, since they believe the independent existence of ...
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1answer
66 views
Kant's cleavage of knowledge
In the Critique of Pure Reason, Kant goes to great lengths to distinguish transcendental knowledge from other a priori knowledge. For Kant, is transcendental knowledge distinct from analytic or ...
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1answer
688 views
Did the Logical Positivists accept synthetic a priori knowledge?
My understanding of Logical Positivists is that, following Wittgenstein, they accepted only 2 types of proposition as meaningful:
Propositions based on formal logic (i.e. tautologies)
Empirically ...
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9answers
700 views
Is there any reason to believe that there are things which science cannot tell us?
Science can only tell us a posteriori synthetic truths, can this category extend to all propositions about the world. Surely the only things which can by known ONLY by a priori analytic are ...
4
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1answer
216 views
Kant - analytic/synthetic propositons
I attend a small gathering of philosophers and guest speakers in my local town where we are sometimes lucky enough to get a professor from some university or college to come to give guest lectures.
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1answer
120 views
Is a posteriori analytic philosophy just science?
Analytic philosophy primarily tries to solve problems a priori. Science can be considered to be synthetic a posteriori, based of some a priori theoretical framework. But would any conclusions that you ...
4
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1answer
173 views
Why does it matter whether knowledge is synthetic or analytic?
I have done some reading around Kant's idea of splitting knowledge into synthetic and analytic. I don't understand why does this split matter, knowledge could be split in other way by different ...
6
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1answer
153 views
How might a modern defender of positivism classify a “speech act”?
A few people here have wondered whether positivism is really dead. I was under the impression that it was for a long time; but there seem to be some sympathizers with positivism here, and I'd be ...
