For years I have heard individuals dismiss the validity of logic by making the following proposition: This proposition is incorrect. The recent Radiolab show Loops discussed this. The idea is that because this statement can be neither true nor false, there is something empty about all logic, and something vapid about every statement. Or, at least, the claim is that logic has its limitations.
Someone probably offered this response decades ago, but I haven't heard it yet, so here it goes.
A tool cannot be used upon itself, and logic is a tool. By simply stating that a proposition is automatically false, you are trying to use logic against logic, and that is not how tools work. Suppose I have a hammer and tell you that you can hit anything within your reach with that hammer. You then ask me, "Can I hit the hammer with the hammer?" I answer impatiently, "No." But I am not responding to a clever argument. It is implicit when using tools that the tool cannot be used upon itself, because it is so obvious that it can't.
You can't hit a hammer with the same hammer, and you cannot make an proposition that the proposition is false. Both the hammer and proposition are tools used for other endeavors, and should only be judged in their ability to do so.
Friday, November 4, 2011
Blog Archive
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2011
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November
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- Understanding Social Interactions is Difficult
- Somewhat defending Barney Frank
- Libertarian Paternalism
- Econophysics is a joke
- Bailey's Radio Interview
- Sometimes they actually say it...
- Sustainability means activism
- and the pope knows not how to respond...
- Christopher Columbus Loves Genghis Kahn
- What little I know about taxes and income inequality
- About the rich and the taxes they pay
- Podcast interview on farm animal welfare
- A Pulitzer winner talks about writing and liberty
- The power of Atlas Shrugged
- So awesome a quote
- Writing For The Public About Ethical Issues
- Prepared Remarks About "Gasland" Documentary
- Reasons to love Genghis Kahn
- Low unemployment rates for agricultural economics ...
- Great Hobhouse Quotes
- This blog posting is not accurate
- Integrity in Macroeconomics
- Rational Economic Man?
- Food Safety: Who Regulates the Regulators?
- Small farms are all we need
- Don't hate the merchant, hate the game
- Overrated Universities
- Galbraith on Keynes
- Galbraith on lecturing
- Galbraith on Tenure
- Piquo and Welfare Economics
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