Analytic–synthetic distinction

When we talk about something, we can say things that are already known or things that we learn from what we say. For example, if we say "all squares have four sides," we already know that's true just by understanding what a square is. But if we say "my dog is brown," we learn something new about the dog by saying it.

The things we already know by just understanding the words are called "analytic" statements. The things we learn from saying the statement are called "synthetic" statements.

In other words, analytic refers to something that can be understood just by understanding the definition of the words used, while synthetic refers to something that needs to be learned or observed in order to be understood.

So, an example of an analytic statement would be "a bachelor is an unmarried man." This is something we already know just by understanding what a bachelor is. An example of a synthetic statement would be "my cat is scratching the couch." We didn't know that information until observing the cat scratch the couch.

Understanding this distinction helps us better understand the limits of what we can learn just from definitions or language vs. what we need to observe and experience in the world around us.