Self-refuting idea - Citizendia

Self-refuting ideas are ideas or statements whose falsehood is a logical consequence of the act or situation of holding them to be true. "Therefore" redirects here For the symbol see Therefore sign. Many ideas are accused by their detractors of being self-refuting, and such accusations are therefore almost always controversial, with defenders claiming that the idea is being misunderstood or that the argument is invalid. In Logic, an argument is a Set of one or more Declarative sentences (or "propositions") known as the Premises along For these reasons, none of the ideas below are unambiguously or incontrovertibly self-refuting.

Variations

Directly self-denying statements

The Epimenides paradox is an instance of a statement of the form "this statement is false". Such statements troubled philosophers, especially when there was a serious attempt to formalize the foundations of logic. Bertrand Russell developed his "Theory of Types" to formalize a set of rules which would prevent such statements (more formally Russell's paradox) being made in symbolic logic. Bertrand Arthur William Russell 3rd Earl Russell, OM, FRS (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970 was a British Philosopher, Historian In Mathematics, Logic and Computer science, type theory is any of several Formal systems that can serve as alternatives to Naive set theory Part of the Foundations of mathematics, Russell's paradox (also known as Russell's antinomy) discovered by Bertrand Russell in 1901 showed that the ^[1] This work has led to the modern formulation of axiomatic set theory. While Russell's formalization didn't contain such paradoxes, Kurt Gödel showed that it must contain independent statements. Kurt Gödel (kʊɐ̯t ˈgøːdl̩ (April 28 1906 – January 14 1978 was an Austrian American Logician, Mathematician and Philosopher In Mathematical logic, a sentence &sigma is called independent of a given first-order theory T if T neither proves nor Any logical system that is rich enough to contain elementary arithmetic contains propositions whose interpretation is "this proposition is unprovable" (from within the logical system concerned), and hence no such system can be both complete and consistent. In formal logic, a formal system (also called a logical system, a logistic system, or simply a logic Formal systems in mathematics consist In Mathematical logic, a first-order theory is complete, if for every sentence φ in its language it contains either φ itself or its negation

Indirectly self-denying statements or "fallacy of the stolen concept"

Objectivists define the fallacy of the stolen concept which consists of the act of using a concept while ignoring, contradicting or denying the validity of the concepts on which it logically and genetically depends. Objectivism is a Philosophy developed by Ayn Rand in the 20th century that encompasses positions on Metaphysics, Epistemology, A claimed example of the stolen concept fallacy is anarchist Pierre-Joseph Proudhon's assertion, "All property is theft". Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (ˈpruːd ɒn in British English, dɔ̃ in French) ( 15 January 1809 – 19 January 1865) was Property is theft! ( French: La propriété c'est le vol!) is a slogan coined by French anarchist Pierre-Joseph Proudhon in his 1840 book

While discussing the hierarchical nature of knowledge, Nathaniel Branden states, “Theft” is a concept that logically and genetically depends on the antecedent concept of “rightfully owned property”—and refers to the act of taking that property without the owner’s consent. If no property is rightfully owned, that is, if nothing is property, there can be no such concept as “theft. ” Thus, the statement “All property is theft” has an internal contradiction: to use the concept “theft” while denying the validity of the concept of “property,” is to use “theft” as a concept to which one has no logical right—that is, as a stolen concept. ^[2]

Others have said the slogan is not an instance of the stolen concept fallacy under Proudhon's intended meaning. Proudhon used the term "property" with reference to claimed ownership in land, factories, etc. He believed such claims were illegitimate, and thus a form of theft from the commons. ^[3] Proudhon explicitly states that the phrase "property is theft" is analogous to the phrase "slavery is murder". According to Proudhon, the slave, though biologically alive, is clearly in a sense "murdered". The "theft" in in his terminology does not refer to ownership anymore than the "murder" refers directly to physiological death, but rather both are meant as terms to represent a denial of specific rights. [3]

Examples

Determinism

It can be argued that to assert determinism as a rational claim in a debate is doubly self-defeating. Determinism is the philosophical Proposition that every event including human cognition and behaviour decision and action is causally determined ^[4]^[5]

To count as rational, a belief must be freely chosen, which according to the determinist is impossible
Any kind of debate seems to be posited on the idea that the parties involved are trying to change each others minds.

Both arguments can be countered, for instance:

A belief is freely chosen if it is chosen without duress (according to compatibilism). For other uses of each of these words see Compatibility. Compatibilism is the belief that Free will and Determinism are
Determinism doesn't assert that people never change their minds, only that such changes are necessitated by causes. If someone changes their mind as the result of hearing an argument, that was a cause.

Ethical Egoism

It has been argued that extreme ethical egoism is self-defeating. Ethical egoism is the normative ethical position that Moral agents ought to do what is in their Self-interest. Faced with a situation of limited resources, egoists would consume as much of the resource as they could, making the overall situation worse for everybody. Egoists rejoin that if the situation becomes worse for everybody, that would include the egoist, so it is not in fact in their rational self-interest to take things to such extremes. ^[6]

Eliminative materialism

The philosopher Mary Midgley claims the idea that "nothing exists except matter" is also self-refuting because if it were true neither it, nor any other idea, would exist, and similarly that an argument to that effect would be self-refuting because it would deny its own existence. Mary Midgley, née Scrutton (born September 13, 1919) is an English moral philosopher. ^[7]

Several other philosophers argue that Eliminative materialism is self-refuting^[8]^[9]^[10]

However, other forms of materialism may escape this kind of argument because, rather than eliminating the mental, they seek to identify it with, or reduce it to, the material. Eliminative materialism (also called eliminativism) is a materialist position in the Philosophy of mind. Self-refuting ideas are ideas or statements whose falsehood is a Logical consequence of the act or situation of holding them to be true The Philosophy of materialism holds that the only thing that can be truly proven to exist is Matter, and is considered a form of Physicalism. MIND ( Moving In New Directions) (est 1975 is an alternative education high school in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Type physicalism (also known as Type Identity Theory, Mind-Brain Identity Theory and Identity Theory of Mind) is a theory in Philosophy of mind Type physicalism (also known as Type Identity Theory, Mind-Brain Identity Theory and Identity Theory of Mind) is a theory in Philosophy of mind ^[11]. For instance, identity theorists such as J. J. C. Smart, Ullin Place and E. G. Boring claim that ideas exist materially as patterns of neural structure and activity. Physicalism is a philosophical position holding that everything which exists is no more extensive than its Physical properties; that is that there are no kinds of things other John Jamieson Carswell "Jack" Smart AC (born 1920 often referred to as J Ullin Place (1924 – 2000 was a British philosopher and psychologist Edwin Garrigues Boring ( October 23, 1886 - July 1, 1968) was an experimental psychologist who later became one of the first Historians The nervous system is a Network of specialized cells that communicate information about an animal's surroundings and itself ^[12]^[13]

Epimenides paradox

The first notable self-refuting idea is the Epimenides paradox, a statement attributed to Epimenides, a Cretan philosopher, that "All Cretans are Liars". The Epimenides paradox is a problem in Logic. It is named after the Cretan Philosopher Epimenides of Knossos (alive circa 600 BC Interpreted (for the present purpose) as meaning "no Cretan ever speaks the truth" this cannot be true if uttered by a Cretan. For the purpose of creating a self-refuting statement, this paradox might be better stated as "I am lying. " This is because the first statement does not, if false, necessarily mean that the speaker is telling the truth (the third option being "some Cretans do not speak the truth"). The second statement has no third alternative -- the speaker's statement is either true or false.

Evolutionary Naturalism

This is a particularly contentious proposal: Alvin Plantinga argues in his Evolutionary argument against naturalism that the combination of Naturalism and Evolution is "in a certain interesting way self-defeating" because if it were true there would be insufficient grounds to believe that human cognitive faculties are reliable. Alvin Carl Plantinga (born 1932 is a contemporary American Philosopher known for his work in Epistemology, Metaphysics, and the Philosophy The Evolutionary argument against naturalism (sometimes abbreviated EAAN) is a Philosophical argument that Metaphysical naturalism when combined with contemporary ^[14] This argument has been supported^[15] and criticised^[16]^[17] by a variety of thinkers^[18]

First-cause arguments

First-cause arguments are described as self-refuting. For example, the philosopher Theodore Schick suggests that an argument by Thomas Aquinas can be formulated in the following terms:

Everything is caused by something other than itself
Therefore the universe was caused by something other than itself. Theodore Schick is an author in the field of Philosophy. His articles have appeared in numerous publications and include topics such as Functionalism and its effect
The string of causes cannot be infinitely long.
If the string of causes cannot be infinitely long, there must be a first cause.
Therefore, there must be a first cause, namely a divine entity.

– and suggests that this is self-refuting because "if everything has a cause other than itself, then god must have a cause other than himself. But if god has a cause other than himself, he cannot be the first cause. So if the first premise is true, the conclusion must be false. "^[19]

Foundationalism

The Philosopher Anthony Kenny argues that the idea, "common to theists like Aquinas and Descartes and to an atheist like Russell" that "Rational belief [is] either self-evident or based directly or indirectly on what is evident" (which he termed "foundationalism" following Plantinga) is self-refuting on the basis that this idea is itself neither self-evident nor based directly or indirectly on what is evident and that the same applies to other formulations of such foundationalism. Sir Anthony John Patrick Kenny FBA (born 16 March 1931 in Liverpool) is an English Philosopher whose interests lie Bertrand Arthur William Russell 3rd Earl Russell, OM, FRS (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970 was a British Philosopher, Historian Alvin Carl Plantinga (born 1932 is a contemporary American Philosopher known for his work in Epistemology, Metaphysics, and the Philosophy ^[20] However, the self-evident impossibility of infinite regress can be offered as a justification for foundationalism. In Epistemology (theory of knowledge a self-evident proposition is one that is known to be true by understanding its meaning without proof. The regress argument (also known as the diallelus) is a problem in Epistemology and in general a problem in any situation where a statement has to be justified ^[21] Following the identification of problems with "naive foundationalism", the term is now often used re-defined to focus on incorrigible beliefs (modern foundationalism), or basic beliefs (reformed foundationalism). In Philosophy, incorrigibility is a property of a philosophical proposition, which implies that it is necessarily true simply by virtue of being believed In Foundationalism, basic beliefs (also commonly called foundational beliefs) are the Axioms of a Belief system

Natural Theology

Biologist PZ Myers, commenting on Richard Dawkins' book The God Delusion, has suggested that "postulating an immensely complicated being to explain the creation of an immensely complicated universe doesn't actually explain anything and is self-refuting. Paul Zachary "PZ" Myers (born March 9, 1957) is an American biology professor at the University of Minnesota Morris (UMM and Clinton Richard Dawkins, FRS, FRSL (born 26 March 1941 is a British ethologist, evolutionary biologist, and Popular science The God Delusion is a 2006 bestselling non-fiction book by British biologist Richard Dawkins, holder of the Charles Simonyi Chair for the Public Understanding "^[22]

Relativism

It is often asserted that relativism about truth must be applied to itself. Compare Moral relativism, Aesthetic relativism, Social constructionism, Cultural relativism, and Cognitive relativism. The meaning of the word truth extends from Honesty, Good faith, and Sincerity in general to agreement with Fact or Reality ^[23]^[24] The cruder form of the argument concludes that since the relativist is asserting relativism as an absolute truth, it leads to a contradiction. Relativists often rejoin that in fact relativism is only relatively true, leading to a subtler problem: the absolutist, the relativist's opponent, is perfectly entitled, by the relativist's own standards, to reject relativism. That is, the relativist's arguments can have no normative force over someone who has different basic beliefs. Normative has specialized meanings in several academic disciplines In Foundationalism, basic beliefs (also commonly called foundational beliefs) are the Axioms of a Belief system ^[25]

Skepticism

Skeptics claim "nothing can be known". Can that claim itself be known, or is it self-refuting?^[26]^[27]One very old response to this problem is Academic skepticism:^[28] an exception is made for the skeptics own claim. This leads to further debate about consistency and special pleading. Special pleading is a form of spurious argumentation where a position in a dispute introduces favorable details or excludes unfavorable details by alleging a need to apply additional considerations Another response is to accept that "nothing can be known" cannot itself be known, so that it is not known whether anything is knowable or not. This is Pyrrhonic skepticism. Pyrrho (ca 360 BC - ca 270 BC a Greek Philosopher of Classical antiquity, is credited as being the first Skeptic philosopher and the inspiration

Scientism

The statement "no statements are true unless they can be proven scientifically", is claimed to be self-refuting insofar as it cannot be proven scientifically; the same goes for essentially similar views like "no statements are true unless they can be shown empirically to be true". ^[29] (This kind of issue was a serious problem for logical positivism). Logical positivism (later and more accurately called logical empiricism) is a school of philosophy that combines Empiricism, the idea that observational evidence is

Solipsism

On the face of it, a statement of solipsism is self-defeating, because a statement assumes another person to whom the statement is made. Solipsism ( Latin: solus, alone + ipse, self is the philosophical idea that "My mind is the only thing that I know exists (That is to say, an unexpressed private belief in solipsism is not self-refuting). The solipsist can adopt the rather surreal maneuver of claiming that their interlocutor is in fact a figment of their imagination, but since their interlocutor knows they are not, they are not going to be convinced!^[30]

Utilitarianism

Anthony Kenny also argues that utilitarianism is self-refuting on the grounds that either determinism is true or false. Sir Anthony John Patrick Kenny FBA (born 16 March 1931 in Liverpool) is an English Philosopher whose interests lie Utilitarianism is the idea that the moral worth of an action is solely determined by its contribution to overall Utility, that is its contribution to happiness If it is true, then we have no choice over our actions. But if it is false then the consequences of our actions are unpredictable, not least because they will depend on the actions of others whom we cannot predict^[31] This would be refuted by the truth of compatibilism. For other uses of each of these words see Compatibility. Compatibilism is the belief that Free will and Determinism are

Verification- and falsification-principles

The statements "statements are meaningless unless they can be empirically verified" and "statements are meaningless unless they can be empirically falsified" are both claimed to be self-refuting on the basis that they can neither be empirically verified nor falsified^[32]

Wittgenstein's Tractatus

The Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus is an unusual example of a self-refuting argument, in that Ludwig Wittgenstein explicitly admits to the issue at the end of the work:

"My propositions are elucidatory in this way: he who understands me finally recognizes them as senseless, when he has climbed out through them, on them, over them. Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus is the only book-length work published by Austrian Philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein. (He must so to speak throw away the ladder, after he has climbed up on it)". (6. 54)

Notes and References

^ Russell B, Whitehead A. N. , Principia Mathematica
^ The Stolen Concept by Nathaniel Branden - originally published in The Objectivist Newsletter in January 1963. The Principia Mathematica is a 3-volume work on the Foundations of mathematics, written by Alfred North Whitehead and Bertrand Russell
^ Rockwell, L. Performative Contradicitons and Subtle Misunderstandings
^ "Second, the argument for [determinisim is self defeating. A determinist must contend that both he and the nondeterminist are determined to believe what they believe. Yet the determinist attempts to convince the nondeterminist that determinism is true and thus ought to be believed. However, on the basis of pure determinism "ought" has no meaning. For "ought" means "could have and should have done otherwise. " But this is impossible according to determinism. A way around this objection is for the determinist to argue that he was determined to say that one ought to accept his view. However, his opponent can respond by saying that he was determined to accept a contrary view. Thus determinism cannot eliminate an opposing position. This allows the possibility for a free will position. " Believe
^ "Determinism is self-defeating. A determinist insists that both determinists and non-determinists are determined to believe what they believe. However, determinists believe self-determinists are wrong and ought to change their view. But "ought to change" implies they are free to change, which is contrary to determinism. " [1]
^ http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-252577/ethics Brittanica
^ see Mary Midgley The Myths we Live by
^ Baker, L. Mary Midgley, née Scrutton (born September 13, 1919) is an English moral philosopher. (1987). Saving Belief Princeton, Princeton University Press
^ Reppert, V. (1992). Eliminative Materialism, Cognitive Suicide, and Begging the Question. Metaphilosophy 23: 378-92.
^ Boghossian, P. (1990). The Status of Content Philosophical Review 99: 157-84. and (1991)The Status of Content Revisited. Pacific Philosophical Quarterly 71: 264-78.
^ Hill, C. Identity Theory
^ "To the author a perfect correlation is identity. Two events that always occur together at the same time in the same place, without any temporal or spatial differentiation at all, are not two events but the same event. The mind-body correlations as formulated at present, do not admit of spatial correlation, so they reduce to matters of simple correlation in time. The need for identification is no less urgent in this case. " Place, U. T. , Identity Theories in A Field Guide to the Philosophy of Mind. Società italiana per la filosofia analitica. Marco Nanni (ed. ). ((online))
^ [2] Dictionary of the Philosophy of Mind
^ Alvin Plantinga in Naturalism Defeated? Ed James Beilby Cornell University Press 2002 p p
^ John Polkinghorne is an example of a scientist-theologian who is supportive of Plantinga's position
^ Fitelson, B. and Sober, E.Plantinga’s Probability Arguments Against Evolutionary Naturalism
^ Robbins, J. Evolutionary Naturalism, Theism, and Skepticism about the External World
^ see eg Naturalism Defeated? Ed James Beilby Cornell University Press 2002
^ Schick, Theodore. Alvin Carl Plantinga (born 1932 is a contemporary American Philosopher known for his work in Epistemology, Metaphysics, and the Philosophy John Polkinghorne, Theodore Schick is an author in the field of Philosophy. His articles have appeared in numerous publications and include topics such as Functionalism and its effect The 'Big Bang' Argument for the Existence of God. Retrieved on 2007-05-29. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 363 - Roman Emperor Julian defeats the Sassanid army in the Battle of Ctesiphon, under the walls of the
^ Anthony Kenny What is Faith? Oxford: OUP 1992 ISBN 0192830678 pp9-10. Sir Anthony John Patrick Kenny FBA (born 16 March 1931 in Liverpool) is an English Philosopher whose interests lie This particular chapter is based on a 1982 lecture which may explain the shift in the meaning of the term "foundationalism" since then
^ Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy on foundationalism
^ Myers, Paul Zachary. Paul Zachary "PZ" Myers (born March 9, 1957) is an American biology professor at the University of Minnesota Morris (UMM and Open Letter to H. Allen Orr. Retrieved on 2007-04-16. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1178 BC - A Solar eclipse may have marked the return of Odysseus, legendary King of Ithaca, to his kingdom
^ Cognitive Relativism, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
^ The problem of self-refutation is quite general. It arises whether truth is relativized to a framework of concepts, of beliefs, of standards, of practices. [http://www.science.uva.nl/~seop/entries/relativism/ Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
^ "If truth is relative, then non-relativist points of view can legitimately claim to be true relative to some standpoints. " Westacott, E. On the Motivations for Relativism
^ The Gallilean Library
^ Suber, P. Classical Skepticism
^ Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
^ see eg Keith Ward, Is Religion Dangerous?
^ ""As against solipsism it is to be said, in the first place, that it is psychologically impossible to believe, and is rejected in fact even by those who mean to accept it. The Reverend Professor (John Stephen Keith Ward (born 22 August 1938) is a British cleric philosopher theologian and scholar Is Religion Dangerous? is a book by Keith Ward examining the questions "Is religion dangerous? Does it do more harm than good? Is it a force for evil?" I once received a letter from an eminent logician, Mrs. Christine Ladd Franklin, saying that she was a solipsist, and was surprised that there were no others. Coming from a logician and a solipsist, her surprise surprised me. " (Russsel, B. , Human Knowledge: Its Scope and Limitsp. 180). "
^ Anthony Kenny What I Believe
^ see eg. Sir Anthony John Patrick Kenny FBA (born 16 March 1931 in Liverpool) is an English Philosopher whose interests lie the discussion by William P Alston in The Rationality of Theism (ISBN 0415263328) pp 26-34

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