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17897
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Analytic explanation is wholes in terms of parts; synthetic is parts in terms of wholes or contexts [Belnap]
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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.
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From:
Nuel D. Belnap (Tonk, Plonk and Plink [1962], p.132)
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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.
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16697
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Time is independent of motion, because God could stop everything for a short or long time [Crathorn, by Pasnau]
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Full Idea:
Suppose God annihilates everything, and then creates something new. The vacant interval could last a shorter or longer time, so there are facts about time independent of facts about motion.
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From:
report of William Crathorn (Sentences [1335], I.16, concl.2) by Robert Pasnau - Metaphysical Themes 1274-1671 18.2
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A reaction:
Not very persuasive if God is in some way 'timeless'. Crathorn would have loved Shoemaker's argument, where motionless time is the best explanation, rather than a possible explanation.
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