Analytic Philosophy may refer to the study of the categories of logical propositions and philosophies known as analytics, which are defined by logical positivists. Usually, logical positivists study the mechanisms of philosophy by applying the scientific method to solve philosophical problems. Analytical propositions are based on a priori knowledge, self-evident and generally tautalogical; they are definitively true or false by definition. Their truth or falsehood is often, but not always, obvious. Analytic propositions also encompass mathematical reasoning.
The term analytic may also describe a particular type of function in mathematics. Roughly speaking, a function is analytic if it is determined by its series. A function on the complex numbers is analytic if it is differentiable.