THE TRANSCENDENTAL ANALYTIC: THE SYSTEM OF PRINCIPLES - KANT

None the less, Kant's exploration of the principles underlying our judgements is of the highest interest. A priori judgements, we recall, may be analytic or synthetic. The highest principle of analytic judgements is the principle of non-contradiction: a self-contradictory judgement is void, and the mark of an analytic judgement is that the contradiction of it is self-contradictory. But the principle of non-contradiction will not take us beyond the field of analytic propositions: it is a necessary, but not a sufficient condition for the truth of synthetic propositions.  In a synthetic judgement two non-identical concepts are put together. Kant lists four groups of principles which underpin synthetic judgements: he gives them technical terms, but we need not concern ourselves with these since they are more confusing than helpful.