Yes, they can. Synchronized in Java locks per object instance. If Thread1 holds method1 and method2 is synchronized separately, thread2 can run method2 unless the synchronization shares the same lock. The real complexity emerges when you realize synchronized methods all lock the same object instance (this). So if both are synchronized, thread2 must wait for thread1 to release the lock. Method boundaries don't create separate locks; the object does. Most teams discover this late: they add synchronized to everything for 'safety', then production performance craters under load because all threads serialize on one lock. The cascade effect is brutal, one lock contention point stops the entire application. The fix was atomic operations on primitives, separate ReentrantLock instances for different concerns, and understanding that 'synchronized' is a mutual exclusion strategy, not a universal safety device. Context matters.