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Full Idea
Although there is seldom a sharp analytic/synthetic distinction to be drawn in the case of our concepts, there are clearly things that are more and less central.
Gist of Idea
A sharp analytic/synthetic line can rarely be drawn, but some concepts are central to thought
Source
John Perry (Knowledge, Possibility and Consciousness [2001], §3.2)
Book Ref
Perry,John: 'Knowledge, Possibility and Consciousness' [MIT 2001], p.54
A Reaction
Most Americans seem enslaved to Quine on this one, so it is nice to see the obvious being stated for once. Human thought is an organic offshoot of the natural world. To think it is all arbitrary and changeable is human arrogance.
| 19487 | Without the analytic/synthetic distinction, Carnap's ontology/empirical distinction collapses [Quine] |
| 3087 | The analytic/synthetic distinction is a silly division of thought into encyclopaedia and dictionary [Harman] |
| 4890 | A sharp analytic/synthetic line can rarely be drawn, but some concepts are central to thought [Perry] |
| 2473 | Analysis is impossible without the analytic/synthetic distinction [Fodor] |
| 9368 | Epistemological analyticity: grasp of meaning is justification; metaphysical: truth depends on meaning [Boghossian] |
| 4717 | If we abandon the analytic-synthetic distinction, scepticism about meaning may be inevitable [O'Grady] |
| 22152 | Aristotelians accept the analytic-synthetic distinction [Boulter] |