Topics Existence

Question Is it correct to say that square circles (and other incoherent ideas) do not exist? Or would it be more accurate to say they neither exist, nor don't exist?

Accepted:
September 30, 2008

Comments

You need to be careful to distinguish things and ideas here. Is the question about square circles or about the idea of a square circle?

Compare: there are no such things as unicorns. It would plainly be wrong to say that they "neither exist nor don't exist": unicorns definitely don't exist! But the idea of a unicorn exists and seems coherent enough. Indeed, we are tempted to suppose that there could have been things that fitted the idea.

Likewise, there are no such things as round squares. Like unicorns, round squares definitely do not exist. But this time, though we can frame the idea of a round square -- we grasp that something counts as a round square if it is round and a square! -- the idea is a self-contradictory one in the sense that nothing can possibly count as fitting our idea here.

Question Is it correct to say that square circles (and other incoherent ideas) do not exist? Or would it be more accurate to say they neither exist, nor don't exist? Accepted:September 30, 2008

Question Is it correct to say that square circles (and other incoherent ideas) do not exist? Or would it be more accurate to say they neither exist, nor don't exist?

Accepted:
September 30, 2008