Célia Teixeira

Federal University of Rio de Janeiro

Is There a Special Relationship Between

the A Priori and the Analytic?

21 December 2018, 16:00

Faculdade de Letras de Lisboa

Sala Mattos Romão (Departamento de Filosofia)

Abstract: The a priori and the analytic have traditionally enjoyed a very special relationship. This relationship may be characterized by two theses: (i) a priori knowledge is mere knowledge of analytic truths, and (ii) we can explain the a priori with the analytic. Both theses were close to orthodoxy during the first half of the twentieth century. In recent years, there has been renewed interest in analyticity, and both theses became, once more, widely held. My aim in this talk is to challenge this special relationship. I argue that even if (i) were true (ii) is false, and that we also have good reason to reject (i). I conclude by suggesting a new argument against the analytic-synthetic distinction.