ABSTRACT
This chapter considers two topics which have sometimes been thought to throw light on the notion of logical necessity: first, the relation of logical impossibility to contradiction and self-contradiction; second, the notion of analyticity. It provides information on logical necessity and self-contradiction and analyticity and logical necessity. It has often been maintained that a logically necessary proposition is one the contradictory of which is self-contradictory. Further, it is sometimes argued that this statement not only makes clear what propositions are logically necessary but also what the phrase 'logically necessary' means. The words 'contradictory' and 'self-contradictory' are used in three distinguishable ways: they are used to refer to pairs of propositions; they are used as terms of 'logical appraisal'; and they are used in a composite sense. In analyticity and logical necessity, the application of the word 'analytic' to logically necessary propositions is considered. The classification of propositions as either analytic or synthetic is due to Kant.
