Questions tagged [paradox]
This tag is for arguments that produce an inconsistency with common sense.
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What is the justification for the claim that observing something that is both a raven and black increases the likelihood that all ravens are black?
Suppose that I have access to a machine that allows me to input a positive integer (perhaps up to ten decimal digits) and the machine will -- depending only on the input -- output a statement.
If the ...
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3answers
169 views
Although Russell's paradox has the virtue of simplicity, is it a distraction from other paradoxes of naive set theory?
Given that Russell's paradox exhibits a contradiction in naive set theory, the interpretation of the binary relation "∈" called "membership" (where the expression "x ∈ m" is pronounced as "x is an ...
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67 views
What is an example of a true contradiction in a paraconsistent logic?
While reading the Wikipedia article on trivialism I noticed the following:
In classical logic, trivialism is in direct violation of Aristotle's law of noncontradiction. In philosophy, trivialism is ...
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35 views
A Paradox for Anti-Realism?
Semantic Anti-Realists hold that a claim has a (constructive) proof if the claim is true. I wonder whether this position runs into a version of Yablo's supposedly non-circular version of the liar ...
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1answer
52 views
Looking for existing discourse on the category of fallacies exemplified by “paradox of tolerance”
Popper coined the phrase "paradox of tolerance" when discussing how unlimited tolerance is self-contradictory (paradoxical) in that it precludes self-preservation (resisting intolerance). The seeming ...
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55 views
Did calculus solve Zeno's paradoxes [duplicate]
Let's start form two versions of Dichotomy paradox
Version 1: Anyone can't walk though any distance without walk though half of it and so on.
solution 0 (?) ... which is false I think, that's not ...
2
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1answer
121 views
The Sartre Paradox
"According to Sartre, humans are the only beings that dont have an essence."
Do't look a little "weird" J.P Sartre, tells that the "Man is comdemned to be free", in case conjuring that, the freedom ...
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2answers
57 views
Liar paradox from a different view/resolved?
Informally, the statement T:
T: "this statement is not both true and not true"
a) T is not true if and only if it is both true and not true
b) T is true if and only if it is not both true and not ...
0
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1answer
65 views
Does “Uncertainty is the only certainty” cause any paradox?
It seems to me that this avoids the self contradictory "everything is uncertain, even uncertainty" while allowing agnostic positions, by allowing only uncertainty as the only thing certain, sort of ...
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4answers
102 views
Russel's paradoxical set from a different view
Suppose naïve set theory, let's do a tought experiment:
Informally, let's define a set € such that € contains all the sets that don't contain themselves.(yes, all but not necessarily only those), ...
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An erotetic argument about the liar paradox
I noticed something about the liar paradox, when the liar sentences are taken as questions. Let’s start with the liar index, “This sentence is false.” Allow this to be questioned: “Is this sentence ...
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145 views
Is determinism logically flawed?
If determinism is true, every event shall have a cause.
So, what is the cause of the first event (which is the first cause)?
Conflict (paradox):
1) every event shall have a cause -> First event/...
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1answer
299 views
The origin of a particular self-reference paradox
This is a simple reference request, for the origin of a particular type of paradoxical statement. The example I remember is
Roger Penrose can't consistently claim this statement to be true.
It's a ...
2
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0answers
120 views
Modal logics - philosophical paradoxes using modeling by possible worlds
I'm searching for "paradoxes" in classical modal logics, meaning lines of reasoning which give a counterintuitive conclusion if performed in classical logic, which can be modelled by the (semantical) ...
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Pragmatic encroachment: how is the basis for X being accurate different from the basis of when it is accurate to say someone knows that X is accurate?
When is it accurate to say that a person (P) knows that X is true/accurate?
This question seems to be answered by the idea/concept of 'Pragmatic Encroachment';
The basic idea/concept of 'Pragmatic ...
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1answer
131 views
Cause and Effect - Finished infinity [closed]
I have a question it's best if I give you an example right away.
Our universe has its limits. in terms of the effect or cause e.g. if we kill a human for some reason will also have the effect. I'm ...
5
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1answer
336 views
Is a paradox a concept?
Obviously 'paradox' is a concept, we name certain things to be so. We share the knowledge of those things through the use of language. But those things, "in themselves", those particular "instances of ...
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The paradox of comprehension
If it can be known it cannot be communicated.
Seemingly Gorgias held an ability to be communicated as intrinsic to the reality of a concept. And why not? Since for a solipsist there would be no ...
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Problematize and building a paradox over the repression drug use, its debates and issues
At the extraordinary session held from 19 to 21 April 2016, the UN General Assembly acknowledged the failure of the "war on drugs". I wanted to find a paradox to create a philosophical problem on the ...
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2answers
86 views
Can shapes be relative from different perspectives? [closed]
Can a material thing (being) have different shapes at the same time? I mean, can the sun be circular and quadratic at the same time? And can it be just as material.
To simplify the question. Can a ...
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3answers
197 views
Can two different objects at the same time be the same? [closed]
Can two things be different and yet the same at the same time?
For example, a chair (white) does not have one leg and another (black) has all of its legs. As in the question, these two things with ...
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189 views
Isn't the sorites paradox predicated on a non-understanding of what a heap is?
Under the assumption that removing a single grain does not turn a heap into a non-heap, the paradox is to consider what happens when the process is repeated enough times: is a single remaining grain ...
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1answer
86 views
A Problem With Kripke's Rule-Following Paradox Example?
It seems that there is a problem with the example that Saul Kripke gives in "Wittgenstein on Rules and Private Language" to explain Wittgenstein's rule-following paradox. I'm not asking about the ...
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1answer
832 views
Is it possible that a question has only two answers?
□ yes □ no
"no" implies that a closed system with only two options like the one above is impossible. If you accept that such a system is possible by the way, it generates paradoxical results, since ...
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What are some true paradoxes in philosophy?
Some logical paradoxes are known to be invalid arguments, so I want to know what are some of the paradoxes based on valid logic in philosophy. So could you identify some of them?
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A difficulty I've had with this “This sentence is false” and Russell's Paradox [closed]
I'm not sure if I'm engaging in some sort of circular logical trap but I don't really think "this sentence is false" is all that logically problematic. But it would be helpful if someone could fix up ...
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2answers
264 views
Is there a natural example of a non-self-referential semantic paradox in philosophy?
A commonly studied paradox is the liar's paradox. The liar's paradox is to determine whether "this statement is false".
The usual resolution is to state this the sentence is not actually a statement ...
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5answers
277 views
If time is discrete, does moving means teleporting?
Please follow this thought experiment:
1) A ball moves one centimeter in one unit of time.
2) A ball disappears. Then, after a unit of time, it reappears one centimeter far away.
By now we don't ...
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1answer
122 views
Grandfather Paradox and Causal Loop
How does the grandfather paradox cause a causal loop (and therefore a bootstrap paradox)?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grandfather_paradox
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3answers
528 views
Is Ross' paradox really a paradox?
Consider the following disjunction introduction:
Your room is clean.
Therefore, your room is clean or your house is burnt down.
Ross' paradox allegedly arises when applying this inference to ...
3
votes
2answers
164 views
free will without evil
If God is omnibenevolent and omnipotent could not we say God is capable of giving us free will without the existence of evil based on the same logic as Descartes described God's ability to lift an ...
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1answer
110 views
What's wrong with the logic in the following ''paradox''?
The apparent paradox pertains to the homesteading principle. This isn't a question about the morality/immorality of homesteading, or ownership, or use, etc, just the logic behind it. The concept: ...
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Correcting a causal paradox via “simulating the cause?”
Firstly, this is a thought experiment -- I am aware that time is a "one way street."
I think this question may be inappropriate for the forum, so I would greatly appreciate a referral to a more ...
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2answers
464 views
unanswerable questions
Let me define "unanswerable question" as one that must use at least one term whose definition depends on the answer to the question.
Let me define "a ranking" as a sequence by which priority is ...
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1answer
72 views
Does relationism resolve the Sorites paradox?
The ancient Sorites paradox,
1 grain of wheat does not make a heap. If 1 grain doesn’t make a heap,
then 2 grains don’t. If 2 grains don’t make a heap, then 3 grains
don’t. … If 999,999 grains ...
0
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1answer
46 views
Is there a theory about time traveling without paradox or multiple universes? [closed]
If you think about time travel you will quickly come to problems like the time paradox. In order to avoid a solution of the question about the paradox, the theory of multiple universes is used. Is ...
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1answer
41 views
Paradoxical definition? [closed]
I recall reading once that the name of the numbers in the set {1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9} is related to the number of angles people in antiquity used to trace while drawing them:
Does not it strike you as a ...
4
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1answer
129 views
Do Alexius Meinong's impossible worlds describe all impossible worlds/things? [duplicate]
Does his impossible worlds category include (and can describe) literally all impossible things/worlds?
Inconsistencies, paradoxes, impossible solutions to problems (and impossible problems); really ...
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2answers
148 views
Is this a paradox about clairvoyance?
You play a game with a fortune teller. There are two cards with the face down on the table; he wins if you raises the card's suit he foresees, you win if his prediction turns out to be wrong. Suppose ...
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1answer
47 views
What paradox/fallacy is this?
This is a striped down version of a thought prompted by am item in today's news. The scenario is fictional. I'm fairly sure that it is essentially some kind of paradox/fallacy, probably a well known ...
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2answers
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Is a set containing itself already a paradox?
This is inspired by Russel's paradox stating there is not set of all sets. It uses the presupposition that set can contain itself. However, this already seems paradoxical.
Suppose a set A = {}. Then ...
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1answer
293 views
Understanding Curry's Paradox
I was trying to understand Curry's Paradox on wikipedia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curry%27s_paradox
The example given is:
To produce Curry's paradox, as described in the two steps above, ...
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7answers
445 views
Is atheism about the existence of Deities or a personal perception of Sacredness?
Wikipedia on atheism:
Atheism is, in the broadest sense, the absence of belief in the existence of deities.
Now what about deities?
A deity is a supernatural being considered divine or sacred.
...
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1answer
169 views
Half Full/Empty Paradox
The famous liar's paradox hinges on the word "false."
This sentence is false.
Now consider the famous example of a glass that can be perceived as either half full or half empty. Does that qualify ...
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5answers
181 views
How do mathematicians reconcile that an infinite set does not have to be larger than its proper subset?
If we imagine an infinite number of fractions and, within them, an infinite number of integers, doesn't the former constitute a "larger" infinite set of numbers?
This has always been paradoxical for ...
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1answer
150 views
Is a barber a barber if he doesn't get paid?
For reference: The Barber Paradox.
The Barber is he who shaves all those, and only those, who doesn't shave themselves.
Now the question is: Who shaves the Barber?
The paradox being that if ...
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Can you divide the natural numbers in half sequentially? [closed]
My brief stint on SE has been quite interesting because it forced me to make the premises of my inquiry more explicit. I resisted this initially simply for reasons of economy, but economy proved to be ...
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1answer
268 views
What logic does Fitch's paradox use?
So I have been looking into Modal Logic as well as epistemic logic (and its dynamic versions) with the hopes of studying their applications to Fitch's paradox.
Fitches paradox refers to the proof ...
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2answers
94 views
Is “Forever falling to the bottom” a paradox? [closed]
Writing an English paper that requires a paradox. Is the above a paradox?
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272 views
Does the uncertainty principle resolve Zeno’s arrow paradox?
Zeno’s arrow paradox says that motion is impossible. Does quantum mechanics say that the underlying assumption is wrong?
Assumption: in any given moment, an arrow in flight is motionless. Then it ...
