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Relation of Ideas

 
Philosophy Dictionary: relations of ideas
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Term used by Hume in the first Enquiry for a priori knowledge: ‘All the objects of human reason or enquiry may naturally be divided into two kinds, to wit, Relations of Ideas, and Matters of Fact’ (Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, iv). The term reflects the belief that anything that can be known a priori must be internal to the mind, and hence transparent to us. See also demonstration, Hume's fork, matter of fact.

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Wikipedia: Relation of Ideas
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A Relation of Ideas, in the Humean sense, is the type of knowledge that can be characterized as arising out of pure conceptual thought and logical operations (in contrast to a Matter of Fact). In a Kantian philosophy, it is equivalent to the analytic a priori. It is also closely coincident with the so-called Truths of Reason of Leibniz, which are defined as those statements whose denials are self-contradictory.

Examples:
Mathematics: 8 x 10 = 80.
Logic/Definitions: All islands are surrounded by water (by definition).

How We Know:
-We can demonstrate these truths.
-Denying these will lead to a logical contradiction.

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Philosophy Dictionary. The Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy. Copyright © 1994, 1996, 2005 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.  Read more
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