Notes on Hintikka’s Analytic-Synthetic Distinction

Abstract:

Hintikka’s most original contribution to the debate on the analytic-synthetic distinction is probably his insight that synthetic arguments, unlike analytic ones, introduce new individuals into the discussion. This intuition is not only the kernel of his theory, but it is also both an interpretation of Kant’s conception of the mathematical method and, at the same time, an attack through formal means against the logical empiricists’ tenet that logic is analytic and tautological. This paper provides: 1. a reconstruction of Hintikka’s overall picture that takes into account both the philosophical and the formal part of his work; 2. an analysis of the different components of Hintikka’s conception and of their relations; 3. a series of objections against Hintikka’s theory that points towards an alternative development of the same basic idea.