Questions tagged [paradox]
This tag is for arguments that produce an inconsistency with common sense.
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Paradox of compromise illustrated by neighbours painting houses
If I remember correctly, there was a problem illustrating the paradox of compromise (and to some extent democracy?) where there are two neighbours that want to paint their houses.
They both want ...
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0answers
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Can these selfreferential statements be rewritten as such?
This statement is a paradox = this statement is both true and false
this statement is a hypodox = this statement is either true or false
this statement is a contradiction/always false = this ...
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always false vs necessarily false , is it the same?
according to the basic tenets of classical propositional logic, contradictions are 'always false' tautologies 'always true'.
When it is extended to modal logic we have the notions of 'necessarily ...
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1answer
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Can it be rational to have beliefs one knows to be inconsistent?
It seems that the answer would be yes, especially when we think about the example of the preface paradox (authors stating in prefaces "the errors that are found herein are mine alone", i.e. believing ...
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1answer
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How does supervaluationism resolve the Sorites paradox? Are there any problems with this resolution?
So I was reading about resolutions to the Sorites paradox, and I got most of them, but I didn't understand the one labelled supervaluationism. Would someone explain it to me in very basic terms please?...
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Solution to the Grandfather's paradox - Inverse reincarnation? [closed]
One of the premises of the grandfather paradox in time travel is that of inconsistency. I.e, going back in time to kill your grandfather or grandmother prevents your birth. The solution is simple, ...
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22 views
'this statement is true' , 'this statement is not not true' [duplicate]
Given the following self-referential sentences
a. this statement is true
b. this statement is not not true
are (a) and (b) intersubstitutable, given classical logic
can one eliminate the double ...
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3answers
576 views
What qualifies as the solving of a paradox?
How/when and by what criteria is a paradox considered to be solved?
EDIT
I understand that rejecting a premise and/or finding a flaw in reasoning can be wholly subjective. Considering the "this page ...
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54 views
The future in the deflationary theory of truth
How does the deflationary theory of truth, which defines true and false in the following straightforward way
The proposition that p is true iff p.
The proposition that p is false iff p is not ...
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4answers
160 views
Liars paradox towards a solution?
This statement is not true
2.This statement is true only if true and not true.
(1) and (2) are clearly different sentences, but do they express the same proposition?
If yes, then it becomes clear ...
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1answer
36 views
How pardoxes relate to a theory's decidability and completeness
Would "this sentence is false" make a theory containing it both undecidable & incomplete, while "this sentence is unprovable" make a theory containing it incomplete(syntatically) but not ...
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67 views
What goes wrong if we explain Russell's paradox as resulting from an overly rigid link between property satisfaction and elementhood?
An excerpt from a question at Math SE (Bounty of 100 available for an answer):
What goes wrong if we explain Russell's paradox as resulting from an overly rigid link between property satisfaction and ...
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79 views
Can we create a paradox of self-consciousness?
On the theme of Russell's paradox:
Does the set of all sets that do not contain themselves contain itself?
And the Barber's paradox:
Does a barber who shaves all men who do not shave themselves ...
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3answers
101 views
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
185 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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86 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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0answers
39 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
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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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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
154 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
73 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
83 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
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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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53 views
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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2answers
183 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
302 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 ...
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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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30 views
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
135 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 ...
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1answer
342 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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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
340 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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3answers
202 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
112 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
840 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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3answers
177 views
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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270 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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287 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
153 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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565 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
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2answers
188 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
115 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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3answers
64 views
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
473 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
74 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
49 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 ...
