Questions tagged [analytic-synthetic-divide]
The analytic-synthetic-divide tag has no usage guidance.
62
questions
12
votes
9
answers
929
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 ...
- 121
8
votes
3
answers
1k
views
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 ...
- 527
8
votes
4
answers
1k
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 ...
- 2,961
8
votes
1
answer
1k
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 ...
- 27.1k
7
votes
5
answers
2k
views
Is mathematics analytic or synthetic?
This question is related to another question I posted but I think it requires its own treatment since of the already wide scope of the other question i.e. Is the classical theory of concepts ...
- 99
7
votes
2
answers
851
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 being ...
- 27.1k
7
votes
1
answer
721
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 (“...
- 4,580
6
votes
2
answers
1k
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 ...
- 61
6
votes
1
answer
204
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 ...
- 528
5
votes
1
answer
144
views
Did Kant believe that the a priori truths don't coincide with the necessary truths?
I just started to read about Kant's metaphysical distinction between analytic vs synthetic truths (necessary vs contingent) and his epistemological distinction between a priori vs a posteriori truths. ...
- 153
5
votes
1
answer
335
views
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 ...
- 3,784
4
votes
1
answer
403
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, ...
- 27.1k
4
votes
4
answers
223
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 ...
- 27.1k
3
votes
2
answers
123
views
Has anyone discussed the analytic vs synthetic in algebra?
Let's go back to the original meanings of addition and multiplication back in ancient Sumer when arithmetic was primarily used as a tool in the trade of sheep and beer. Addition meant something like ...
- 7,600
3
votes
1
answer
210
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 ...
- 1,389
3
votes
2
answers
163
views
Is this definition a necessary or possible (contingent) truth?
Sorry for not having much context but taking Pegasus to be the mythological beast from greek mythology.
"To be Pegasus is to be capable of flying."
Is this definition an necessary truth or a ...
- 826
3
votes
1
answer
427
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 ...
- 633
3
votes
1
answer
418
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.
...
- 163
3
votes
1
answer
75
views
Does Plato think we can have synthetic a posteriori knowledge?
I understand that Plato thinks our knowledge of universals is innate, and therefore synthetic a priori knowledge. However, does he think we can have any knowledge that is synthetic and a posteriori? ...
- 31
3
votes
1
answer
427
views
Are holist underdetermination and contrastive underdetermination mutually exclusive in any ways?
My understanding of Quine's view of holist underdetermination and how it connects to his holist view of science is summarized well by this quote:
The totality of our so-called knowledge or beliefs, ...
- 31
3
votes
1
answer
334
views
Did Quine ever respond to the major criticisms of Two Dogmas?
I'm specifically thinking about Grice and Strawson's paper "In Defense of a Dogma" and Putnam's paper "Two Dogmas Revisited". Both raise major issues with the content of Quine's "Two Dogmas of ...
3
votes
2
answers
139
views
Analyticity and a priority
(1) Every bachelor is unmarried.
I know this is one of the most famous examples (intensionally) denoting analytic and a priori propositions. No problems yet.
(2) Every apple is a fruit.
This one ...
- 33
2
votes
2
answers
339
views
Two dogmas of empiricism - logical vs analytic truths... is there really a distinction?
A link to the paper is here:
https://www.theologie.uzh.ch/dam/jcr:ffffffff-fbd6-1538-0000-000070cf64bc/Quine51.pdf
So in the paper Quine gives two types of analytic statements:
No unmarried man is ...
- 2,961
2
votes
4
answers
419
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, ...
- 159
2
votes
3
answers
432
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 ...
- 367
2
votes
2
answers
109
views
Is the compound statement "Every bachelor is a man without a wife AND the Earth revolves around the Sun,” synthetic or analytic?
Is the compound statement "every bachelor is a man without a wife and the Earth revolves around the Sun” (where "and" is a conjunction) synthetic or analytic?
Kant, for example, talks ...
- 21
2
votes
2
answers
126
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 ...
- 267
2
votes
1
answer
106
views
Did it take till the likes of Lakoff and the 20th-21st century to have truly direct naturalized reasons for logic and math?
I’m finding George Lakoff and cohorts unique (but maybe that’s my lack of looking enough) in that they seem among the first to posit a direct, naturalized account of logic and mathematics, as ...
- 2,385
2
votes
2
answers
186
views
On Searle's _Proper Names_ (1958)
I just read Searle's article Proper Names (1958) which was published before Kripke's seminal take on the subject in Naming and Necessity (1980). I think it is a very lucid article but I have a ...
2
votes
2
answers
91
views
Why does Kant say that some imperatives are analytically justified?
In the Groundwork and the second Critique, IIRC, Kant for some reason tries to explain the "argument" for the categorical imperative as synthetic a priori. He does this not just for assertoric forms ...
- 12.1k
2
votes
1
answer
207
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 ...
- 828
2
votes
1
answer
40
views
Is the logicist definition of "analytic" consistent with Kant?
Kant famously distinguished between analytic and synthetic a priori knowledge as two kinds of knowledge that can be acquired a priori, that is, without relying on experience. The distinction is that ...
- 7,600
2
votes
3
answers
916
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 ...
2
votes
3
answers
264
views
Is "thoughts exist" a synthetic a priori statement?
I'm working off of Kant's conception of analytic/synthetic and a prior/a posteriori judgements.
The definition of "thoughts" does not subsume their existence. That is, it is logically ...
- 377
1
vote
3
answers
197
views
Is the proposition "I feel happy" analytic or synthetic?
If we consider the statement to be true, assumedly the predicate "happy" is contained within the subject "I", and would therefore be analytic.
Would this also make all subjective statements analytic?
...
user17065
1
vote
2
answers
388
views
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 ...
1
vote
2
answers
249
views
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 ...
- 249
1
vote
2
answers
68
views
Platonic truths without math, logic, ethics, or analyticity?
I take it that logic and math can conceivably produce truths independent of humans (platonic truths), and probably ethics and maybe analyticity can as well. Ethical truths might conceivably be ...
- 2,385
1
vote
1
answer
2k
views
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 ...
- 2,402
1
vote
3
answers
236
views
Is "there are synthetic a priori truths" a synthetic a priori truth?
Disregarding any modern objections to the division of synthetic/analytic and a priori/a posteriori, how would one argue for or against this claim, using Kant's definitions and assumptions?
Also, is ...
- 583
1
vote
1
answer
90
views
Is the synthetic/analytic distinction about metaphysics?
Is the distinction between synthetic/analytic a claim about epistemology, ontology or something else altogether?
Where can one read more about the stakes of the relevant arguments?
I did read the The ...
- 113
1
vote
1
answer
143
views
How does Kant argue that all people have moral dignity
How does Kant argue that all people have moral dignity, the ability to conform to a moral law in which all people are ends only.
I have not substantially read Kant, but it occurred to me, suddenly / ...
user49534
1
vote
1
answer
57
views
Kant's Notion of Synthetic A Prioiri as Logical Entailment
Is there something wrong about interpreting Kant's notion of synthetic a priori statements to be logical entailments?
I understand, I think, that Kant didn't want to say such statements (e.g math ...
user32564
1
vote
1
answer
1k
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 ...
- 505
1
vote
2
answers
542
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 ...
- 3,846
1
vote
1
answer
186
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,...
- 477
1
vote
0
answers
22
views
Is 'analytic' opposed to 'synthesis', as universal rather than traditional?
I'm reading a book on Russian theatre and it mentions
a similarity in intent... [to]
the work of the cubists... intention was both analytic and
synthetic... both the investigation of the universal ...
user67675
1
vote
0
answers
413
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 ...
- 131
1
vote
0
answers
112
views
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 ...
- 257
1
vote
1
answer
160
views
Correspondence theory of truth and analyticity
The correspondence theory of truth states that truth is essentially correspondence to a fact or state of affairs. How does this theory handle analytic truths - that is, 'true by definition' type ...
- 478