Single Idea 24030

[catalogued under 10. Modality / C. Sources of Modality / 4. Necessity from Concepts]

Full Idea

When I say that four and three make seven, this connection is necessary, because one cannot conceive the number seven distinctly without including in it in a confused way the number four and the number three.

Gist of Idea

3+4=7 is necessary because we cannot conceive of seven without including three and four

Source

René Descartes (Rules for the Direction of the Mind [1628], 12)

Book Reference

Descartes,René: 'Rules for the Direction of the Mind' [Newcomb Library 2023], p.39


A Reaction

This seems to make the truths of arithmetic conceptual, and hence analytic.