Re: Is 1+1=2 analytic or synthetic?
examachine_at_gmail.com
Date: 01/08/05
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Date: 7 Jan 2005 18:52:40 -0800
I think I should name myself a positivist first. Even the purest of all
analytic disciplines, mathematics, cannot free itself of the real
world, as its rules are imposed in the way it can conjure new theories.
For instance, everything has to be expressed as a string of symbols.
The mathematical concepts themselves occur in a way that is causally
connected to the world, it's hard to see them being wholly independent
of their material causes. These and other metaphysical considerations
lead me to believe that our every idea has a synthetic content,
including mathematical ideas. By analyticity, we merely mean abundance
in its formal nature, in its capacity to depict a possible world.
Deviation from the actual world can be understood in the terms of
algorithmic dissimilarity, but it seems that much commonality is always
present whenever the theory in question does anything interesting.
So, I agree with Quine that the distinction is a matter of degree. The
further from the known world we get without collecting new empirical
facts, the higher risk of falsehood we run.
I'd call logical positivism extinct, not positivism, by the way.
Regards,
-- Eray Ozkural
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