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Full Idea
No purpose is served by thinking that certain principles available to a person are contained in his internal encyclopaedia - and therefore only synthetic - whereas other principles are part of his internal dictionary - and are therefore analytic.
Gist of Idea
The analytic/synthetic distinction is a silly division of thought into encyclopaedia and dictionary
Source
Gilbert Harman (Thought [1973], 6.5)
Book Ref
Harman,Gilbert: 'Thought' [Princeton 1977], p.98
A Reaction
If it led to two different ways to acquire knowledge, then quite a lot of purpose would be served. He speaks like a pragmatist. The question is whether some statements just are true because of some feature of meaning. Why not?
| 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] |