"Apodictic", also spelled "apodeictic" ( grc, ἀποδεικτικός, "capable of demonstration"), is an adjectival expression from Aristotelean logic that refers to

proposition In logic and linguistics, a proposition is the meaning of a declarative sentence. In philosophy, "meaning" is understood to be a non-linguistic entity which is shared by all sentences with the same meaning. Equivalently, a proposition is the no ...

s that are demonstrably, necessarily or self-evidently true.Dictionary definitions of apodictic
from dictionary.com, including material from the Random House Unabridged Dictionary,

Random House, Inc. Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...

(2006),

The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language ''The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language'' (''AHD'') is an American English, American dictionary of English published by Boston publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Houghton Mifflin, the first edition of which appeared in 1969. ...

, Fourth Edition, 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company, and WordNet 3.0,

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the n ...

2006. Apodicticity or apodixis is the corresponding abstract noun, referring to logical certainty. Apodictic propositions contrast with

assertoric An assertoric proposition in Aristotelian logic merely asserts that something is (or is not) the case, in contrast to problematic proposition Problematic may refer to: * ''Problematic'' (All album), a 2000 album by punk band ALL * '' Problematic ...

propositions, which merely assert that something is (or is not) true, and with problematic propositions, which assert only the possibility of something's being true. Apodictic judgments are clearly provable or logically certain. For instance, "Two plus two equals four" is apodictic, because it is true by definition. "Things fall" is also apodictic, because it is easily demonstrated and obvious to the listener. "Chicago is larger than Omaha" is assertoric. "A corporation could be wealthier than a country" is problematic. In Aristotelian logic, "apodictic" is opposed to "

dialectic Dialectic ( grc-gre, διαλεκτική, ''dialektikḗ''; related to dialogue; german: Dialektik), also known as the dialectical method, is a discourse between two or more people holding different points of view about a subject but wishing to ...

", as scientific proof is opposed to philosophical

reasoning Reason is the capacity of consciously applying logic by drawing conclusions from new or existing information, with the aim of seeking the truth. It is closely associated with such characteristically human activities as philosophy, science, lang ...

. Kant contrasted "apodictic" with "problematic" and "assertoric" in the '' Critique of Pure Reason'', on page A70/B95.

Apodictic a priorism

Hans Reichenbach, one of the founders of logical positivism, offered a modified version of

Immanuel Kant Immanuel Kant (, , ; 22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804) was a German philosopher and one of the central Enlightenment thinkers. Born in Königsberg, Kant's comprehensive and systematic works in epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, and aes ...

's a priorism by distinguishing between ''apodictic a priorism'' and ''constitutive a priorism''.

References

* Antony Flew. ''A Dictionary of Philosophy - Revised Second Edition''. St. Martin's Press, NY, 1979

External links

* {{Wiktionary-inline, apodictic Modal logic Term logic