ANALYSIS OF SCIENTIFIC CONCEPTS 235 



problem in its proper perspective. The problem of the anal- 

 ysis of the concepts of science is approximately as follows: 

 To clarify the meanings of vague concepts, and to establish 

 the truths of doubtful propositions by showing the relations 

 which they bear either to events, or to concepts whose meanings 

 are more clear and propositions whose truths are more certain. 

 It may thus be considered as a problem of "reduction," 

 for something which exhibits important deficiencies or inade- 

 quacies is replaced by something else upon which it in some 

 sense depends and which lacks these deficiencies and inade- 

 quacies. It is obvious, for example, that meanings of words 

 can be clarified by pointing to the objects which they desig- 

 nate; the meaning of the word "time" can be understood 

 if one can discern from the background of events that gen- 

 eral feature which is time. Meanings can also be clarified 

 by the method of definition; the meaning of the word 

 "motion" can be understood if one points out that it is 

 equivalent to "change of space with respect to time." 

 Truths can be ascertained by referring to facts; for example, 

 the truth of the proposition "This substance is yellow" can 

 be determined by examining the substance. But truths can 

 also be ascertained from other truths; for example, the 

 proposition "2 + 2 = 4" is true by virtue of the postulate 

 system which defines the natural numbers and the operation 

 of addition. Thus one clarifies meanings and justifies truths 

 by disclosing relationships to other entities. Just why 

 this activity should be called "analysis" is somewhat hard 

 to see; it is probably not such in the vague sense in which a 

 whole is analyzed into its parts. But if one considers that 

 every symbol participates in a large complex of relationships, 

 both to events and to other symbols, he realizes that certain 

 of them must be more highly determinative of meaning 

 and truth than others. Analysis is the act by which those 

 relations which are significant in the ascertainment of the 

 meaning and truth of a given symbol are selected. A man 

 may have relations to his friends, business associates, wife, 

 and children, but when he is spoken of as a "husband" the 



