n A CONTRADICTION is a sentence that is necessarily FALSE, as a result of the senses of the
words in it. Thus a contradiction is in a way the opposite of an analytic sentence. Example This
animal is a vegetable is a contradiction. This must be false because of the senses of animal and
vegetable. Both of John’s parents are married to aunts of mine is a contradiction. This must be
false because of the senses of both parents, married, and aunt. Practice Circle the following
sentences A for analytic, S for synthetic or C for contradiction, as appropriate. For some you will
have to imagine relevant situations. (1) That girl is her own mother’s mother A / S / C (2) The
boy is his own father’s son A / S / C (3) Alice is Ken’s sister A / S / C (4) Some typewriters are
dusty A / S / C (5) If it breaks, it breaks A / S / C (6) John killed Bill, who remained alive for many
years after A / S / C Feedback (1) C (2) A (3) S (4) S (5) A (6) C Comment Analytic sentences can
be formed from contradictions, and vice versa, by the insertion or removal, as appropriate, of
the negative particle word not. We pay no attention here to the figurative use of both analytic
sentences and contradictions. Taken literally, the sentence That man is not a human being is a
contradiction. This very fact is what gives it its power to communicate a strong emotional
judgement in a figurative use (stronger than, say, the synthetic That man is very cruel). We will
now mention a limitation of the notions analytic, synthetic, and contradiction. Remember that
these notions are defined in terms of truth. Imperative and interrogative sentences cannot be
true or false, and so they cannot be analytic (because they cannot be true), or synthetic,
because ‘synthetic’ only makes sense in contrast to the notion ‘analytic’. You will have noticed
that synthetic sentences are potentially informative in real-world situations, whereas analytic
sentences and contradictions are not informative to anyone who already knows the meaning of
the words in them. It might be thought that the fact that semanticists concentrate attention on
unusual sentences, such as analytic ones and contradictions, reflects a lack of interest in
ordinary, everyday language. Quite the contrary! Semanticists are interested in the foundations
of everyday communication. People can only communicate meaningfully about everyday
matters, using informative synthetic sentences, because (or to the extent that) they agree on
the meanings PART THREE . . . to sense 98 of the words in them. This basic agreement on
meaning is reflected in analytic sentences, which is what makes them of great interest to
semanticists. The notions analytic, synthetic, and contradiction each apply to individual
sentences. Analyticity, syntheticity, and contradiction are, then, sense properties of sentences.
Example That man is human has the sense property of analyticity (or of being analytic). That
man is tall has the sense property of syntheticity (or of being synthetic). That man is a woman
has the sense property of being a contradiction. Practice (1) Does the analyticity of That man is
human depend in some crucial way on a semantic relationship between the sense of man and
that of human? Yes / No (2) Which of the following statements seems to express this semantic
relationship between man and human correctly? Circle your choice. (a) The sense of man
includes the sense of human. (b) The sense of human includes the sense of man. (c) The sense of
man is identical to the sense of human. (3) Does the semantic relationship that exists between
man and human also exist between man and tall? Yes / No (4) Does the absence of this semantic
relationship between man and tall account for the fact that This man is tall is not analytic, like
This man is human?