synthetic proposition

philosophy

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July 14, 2026

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A synthetic proposition is a statement whose predicate is not logically contained within its subject. Its truth is determined by how the world is, rather than by the meaning of the words themselves. This contrasts with analytic propositions, where the predicate is part of the subject's definition, such as "All husbands are male".12

The concept of synthetic propositions is central to the philosophy of Immanuel Kant. He explored the idea of synthetic a priori propositions, which are statements that are true independently of experience but whose predicate is not contained within the subject. An example is "Every event has a cause". Kant argued that such propositions are possible because the mind imposes certain structures on our experience.13

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analytic proposition
…all bodies are heavy is synthetic, since the notion of weight supposes in addition to the notion of body that of bodies in relation to one another. In the 19th century Bernard Bolzano, a Prague logician and epistemologist, added a third category, the analytically false.
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…all bodies are heavy is synthetic, since the notion of weight supposes in addition to the notion of body that of bodies in relation to one another. In the 19th century Bernard Bolzano, a Prague logician and epistemologist, added a third category, the analytically false.
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Immanuel Kant
Critic of Leibnizian rationalism
Philosophy cannot, like mathematics, proceed synthetically; it must analyze and clarify. The importance of the moral order, which he had learned from Rousseau, reinforced the conviction received from his study of Newton that a synthetic philosophy is empty and false.
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Philosophy cannot, like mathematics, proceed synthetically; it must analyze and clarify. The importance of the moral order, which he had learned from Rousseau, reinforced the conviction received from his study of Newton that a synthetic philosophy is empty and false.
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phenomenology
Contrasts with related movements
…bodies have extension”), and the synthetic a posteriori statements, whose subjects do not logically imply the predicate and the truth of which is dependent on experience (e.g., “My shirt is red”), it recognizes knowledge of the synthetic a priori, a proposition whose subject does not logically imply the predicate but…
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…bodies have extension”), and the synthetic a posteriori statements, whose subjects do not logically imply the predicate and the truth of which is dependent on experience (e.g., “My shirt is red”), it recognizes knowledge of the synthetic a priori, a proposition whose subject does not logically imply the predicate but…
Read More