Hume's fork

proper noun

A tenet asserting that all statements are exclusively either "analytic a priori" (universally true by mere definition) or "synthetic a posteriori" (unknowable without exact experience).

Meanings

proper noun

alternative Hume's Fork

  1. epistemologyA tenet asserting that all statements are exclusively either "analytic a priori" (universally true by mere definition) or "synthetic a posteriori" (unknowable without exact experience).
    1 more example

    Hume's Fork would belong to the category of sophistry and illusion. As Hume's Fork is presented as a tool with which knowable propositions can be distinguished from nonsensical ones, critics need to show that the two categories of knowable propositions are inadequate, or that nonsensical propositions can be true or false.

    2020, Jean-Etienne Joullié, Robert Spillane, The Philosophical Foundations of Management Thought, Lexington Books, →ISBN, page 105

Origin

Named after philosopher David Hume (1711–1776).

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

Hume's fork. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Hume's%20fork

MLA

“Hume's fork.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Hume's%20fork. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Hume's fork,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Hume's%20fork.

Source: Hume's fork on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.