--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Analytic philosophy, that is to say, can…" description: "\"“Analytic philosophy, that is to say, can very occasionally produce practically conclusive results of a negative kind. It can show in a few cases that ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/294/alasdair-macintyre-14695_analytical-philosoph_analytic-philosophy-that-is-to-say-can-v_1725445.jpg" --- # Analytic philosophy, that is to say, can very occasionally… ![“Analytic philosophy, that is to say, can very occasionally produce practically conclusive results of a negative kind. It can show in a few cases that just too much incoherence and inconsistency is involved in some position for any reasonable person to continue to hold it. But it can never…” quote by Alasdair MacIntyre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/294/alasdair-macintyre-14695_analytical-philosoph_analytic-philosophy-that-is-to-say-can-v_1725445.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/294/alasdair-macintyre-14695_analytical-philosoph_analytic-philosophy-that-is-to-say-can-v_1725445.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/294/alasdair-macintyre-14695_analytical-philosoph_analytic-philosophy-that-is-to-say-can-v_1725445.jpg) > ““Analytic philosophy, that is to say, can very occasionally produce practically conclusive results of a negative kind. It can show in a few cases that just too much incoherence and inconsistency is involved in some position for any reasonable person to continue to hold it. But it can never establish the rational acceptability of any particular position in cases where each of the alternative rival positions available has sufficient range and scope and the adherents of each are willing to pay the price necessary to secure coherence and consistency. Hence the peculiar flavor of so much contemporary analytic writing—by writers less philosophically self-aware than Rorty or Lewis—in which passages of argument in which the most sophisticated logical and semantic techniques available are deployed in order to secure maximal rigor alternate with passages which seem to do no more than cobble together a set of loosely related arbitrary preferences; contemporary analytic philosophy exhibits a strange partnership between an idiom deeply indebted to Frege and Carnap and one deriving from the more simple-minded forms of existentialism”” [Alasdair MacIntyre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alasdair-macintyre/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Analytic philosophy can sometimes refute incoherent positions but cannot prove any single view when alternatives are equally coherent. **In simple terms:** It can show bad arguments but not prove the best one. Key Takeaway Recognize limits of logical analysis in deep disputes. Themes philosophy analysis logic argumentation limitations Mood critical introspective Type analytical philosophical When to use this quote - academic debates - ethical theory formulation - policy analysis - philosophical education Key Concepts Frege Carnap Rorty Lewis existentialism Questions to Reflect On - How do we choose between equally coherent theories? - When should we prioritize practical consequences over logical consistency? 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Indeed when a tradition becomes Burkean, it is always dying or dead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alasdair-macintyre/traditions-when-vital-embody-continuities-of-conflict-indeed-when-a/) [Alasdair MacIntyre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alasdair-macintyre/) > [The attempted professionalization of serious and systematic thinking has had a disastrous effect upon our culture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alasdair-macintyre/the-attempted-professionalization-of-serious-and-systematic-thinking/) [Alasdair MacIntyre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alasdair-macintyre/) [Explore all 45 Alasdair MacIntyre quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alasdair-macintyre/) ## More Ethics quotes > [Self-respect and a clear conscience are powerful components of integrity and are the basis for enriching your relationships with others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-waitley/self-respect-and-a-clear-conscience-are-powerful-components-of/) [Denis Waitley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-waitley/) > [“Knowledge without conscience is but the ruin of the soul.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabelaise/knowledge-without-conscience-is-but-the-ruin-of-the-soul/) Rabelaise > [He who mistrusts most should be trusted least.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theognis-of-megara/he-who-mistrusts-most-should-be-trusted-least/) [Theognis of Megara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theognis-of-megara/) > [Writing adds up to the conscience of our times.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-firrell/writing-adds-up-to-the-conscience-of-our-times/) [Martin Firrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-firrell/) > [Ethics is the activity of man directed to secure the inner perfection of his own personality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-schweitzer/ethics-is-the-activity-of-man-directed-to-secure-the-inner-perfection/) [Albert Schweitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-schweitzer/) > [My conscience is really active. So I feel bad about spending excess amount of money on things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/syd/my-conscience-is-really-active-so-i-feel-bad-about-spending-excess/) [Syd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/syd/) > [Records, radio, television, movies, magazines-all are monopolized by the money managers who are guided by one ethic, the words wealth and power.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-taft-benson/records-radio-television-movies-magazines-all-are-monopolized-by-the/) [Ezra Taft Benson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-taft-benson/) > [Let us be thankful for health and competence, and, above all, for a quiet conscience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/izaak-walton/let-us-be-thankful-for-health-and-competence-and-above-all-for-a/) [Izaak Walton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/izaak-walton/) > [Making money doesn't oblige people to forfeit their honor or their conscience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-de-rothschild/making-money-doesn-t-oblige-people-to-forfeit-their-honor-or-their/) [Guy de Rothschild](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-de-rothschild/) > [“If we cannot be happy and powerful and prey on others, we invent conscience and prey on ourselves.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elbert-hubbard/if-we-cannot-be-happy-and-powerful-and-prey-on-others-we-invent/) [Elbert Hubbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elbert-hubbard/) > [There is no perfect justice, just as there is no absolute in ethics. 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Our kids earn what they get, and that includes respect.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woody-hayes/any-time-you-give-a-man-something-he-doesn-t-earn-you-cheapen-him-our/) [Woody Hayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woody-hayes/) [Browse all 4,548 Ethics quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ethics/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Analytic philosophy, that is to say, can very occasionally produce practically conclusive results of a negative kind. It can show in a few cases that just too much incoherence and inconsistency is involved in some position for any reasonable person to continue to hold it. But it can never establish the rational acceptability of any particular position in cases where each of the alternative rival positions available has sufficient range and scope and the adherents of each are willing to pay the price necessary to secure coherence and consistency. Hence the peculiar flavor of so much contemporary analytic writing—by writers less philosophically self-aware than Rorty or Lewis—in which passages of argument in which the most sophisticated logical and semantic techniques available are deployed in order to secure maximal rigor alternate with passages which seem to do no more than cobble together a set of loosely related arbitrary preferences; contemporary analytic philosophy exhibits a strange partnership between an idiom deeply indebted to Frege and Carnap and one deriving from the more simple-minded forms of existentialism”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alasdair MacIntyre" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alasdair-macintyre/analytic-philosophy-that-is-to-say-can-very-occasionally-produce/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Ethics" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alasdair-macintyre/analytic-philosophy-that-is-to-say-can-very-occasionally-produce/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/294/alasdair-macintyre-14695_analytical-philosoph_analytic-philosophy-that-is-to-say-can-v_1725445.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/294/alasdair-macintyre-14695_analytical-philosoph_analytic-philosophy-that-is-to-say-can-v_1725445.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/294/alasdair-macintyre-14695_analytical-philosoph_analytic-philosophy-that-is-to-say-can-v_1725445.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Analytic philosophy, that is to say, can very occasionally produce practically conclusive results of a…” — Alasdair MacIntyre", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Alasdair MacIntyre", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alasdair-macintyre/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Analytic philosophy, that is to say,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alasdair-macintyre/analytic-philosophy-that-is-to-say-can-very-occasionally-produce/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alasdair-macintyre/analytic-philosophy-that-is-to-say-can-very-occasionally-produce/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```