| 1962 | Tonk, Plonk and Plink |
| p.132 | p.132 | 17897 | Analytic explanation is wholes in terms of parts; synthetic is parts in terms of wholes or contexts |
| Full Idea: Throughout the whole texture of philosophy we distinguish two modes of explanation: the analytic mode, which tends to explain wholes in terms of parts, and the synthetic mode, which explains parts in terms of the wholes or contexts in which they occur. | |||
| From: Nuel D. Belnap (Tonk, Plonk and Plink [1962], p.132) | |||
| A reaction: The analytic would be bottom-up, and the synthetic would be top-down. I'm inclined to combine them, and say explanation begins with a model, which can then be sliced in either direction, though the bottom looks more interesting. |
| 1970 | Conditional Assertion and Restricted Quantification |
| p.7 | p.65 | 19000 | Read 'all ravens are black' as about ravens, not as about an implication |
| Full Idea: 'All ravens are black' might profitably be read as saying not that being a raven 'implies' being black, but rather something more like 'Consider the ravens: each one is black'. | |||
| From: Nuel D. Belnap (Conditional Assertion and Restricted Quantification [1970], p.7), quoted by Stephen Yablo - Aboutness 04.5 | |||
| A reaction: Belnap is more interested in the logic than in the paradox of confirmation, since he evidently thinks that universal generalisations should not be read as implications. I like Belnap's suggestion. |