However, arguably the most prominent analyses are written on concepts or propositions and are known as conceptual analysis (Foley 1996).
Thus, in the long-standing debate on whether free will is compatible with the doctrine of determinism, several philosophers have proposed analyses of the relevant concepts to argue for either compatibilism or incompatibilism.
Normally, to decide whether a proposition of the standard subject-predicate form is true or false, one checks whether the subject is in the extension of the predicate.
So, it would appear that the proposition expressed by "The present king of France is bald" is neither true nor false.
Wittgenstein, for instance, argues that language (e.g., the word 'bachelor') is used for various purposes and in an indefinite number of ways.
A key part of the analytic method involves analyzing concepts via "intuition tests".
Philosophers tend to motivate various conceptual analyses by appeal to their intuitions about thought experiments.
(See DePaul and Ramsey (1998) for a collection of current essays on the controversy over analysis as it relates to intuition and reflective equilibrium.)
In short, some philosophers feel strongly that the analytic method (especially conceptual analysis) is essential to and defines philosophy—e.g.