Re: Is 1+1=2 analytic or synthetic?
examachine_at_gmail.com
Date: 12/30/04
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Date: 30 Dec 2004 08:30:30 -0800
The analytic/synthetic distinction is a somewhat artificial distinction
which was drawn by logical positivists, a fortunately extinct species
of positivists who seemed to worship strange things at times.
1 + 1 = 2 is quite synthetic because it represents physical and mental
events in the real world, e.g. I have a pen, if I buy another I have
two pens, or I have a plan, and if I make another plan I have two
plans. This isn't merely folk mathematics, a physicist will tell you
that if an electron enters a region in which there is only a single
electron, there will be two electrons.
On the other hand, it has an analytic component, too, e.g. as belongs
to a larger formal system of arithmetic, for instance. In this vein,
the theorem follows from a collection of basic truths which have little
to do with past observations.
There may of course be concepts that are more analytic than synthetic,
but I don't know how seriously one should take a concept like god.
I think it's worth considering that the distinction is a matter of
degree.
Regards,
-- Eray Ozkural
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