[lbo-talk] Contradiction

Carrol Cox cbcox at ilstu.edu
Sat Dec 1 11:35:48 PST 2007


Jerry Monaco wrote:
>
> On Dec 1, 2007 12:27 PM, Robert Wrubel <bobwrubel at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>
> I'm still not sure why we should think of contradiction as anything but
> artifacts of formal systems. This does not mean that the contradictions are
> "unreal" but simply that they are qualities of formal systems. They may
> help us to understand the rest of the world outside of formal systems
> better, but it does not mean that "contradiction" per-se is anything but an
> attribute of a formal system. The same for other notions on the same
> logical level, such as continuity/discontinuity, point (in time, or on a
> line), etc.

I haven't been following this thrread either, but I have a query.

Back in the '40s some scientist (I believe a biochemist) was quoted in Time (a vague memory from long ago) as saying that one can never do just one thing. That is, every act has numerous results beyond the control (or even knowledge) of the agent. Would this not lead to actions that are self-negating, and does not self-negation bear a resemblance to the contradictions of formal logic?

A question, not an argument.

Carrol



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