Topics Logic

Question Is there such a thing, in philosophy, as a formula for reconciling two contradictory statements? If not, then are there guidelines or strategies to beginning the reconciliation of two contradictory statements or arguments?

Accepted:
January 4, 2011

Comments

People don't normally speak of contradictory arguments – unless it's shorthand for arguments that lead to contradictory conclusions. So let's focus on that. I don't think there's anything like a formula for trying to reconcile such statements. One thing philosophers sometimes do is try to find a hidden parameter that has been suppressed in the statements and then make that explicit in different ways in the two sentences thereby arriving at two statements that, though superficially contradictory, are actually perfectly consistent. To take a simple example (which has generated some discussion), we might initially be puzzled by the fact that we want to assert that Obama is young and also not young - until we realize that what we really wanted to say is that Obama is young for a President of the U.S. and that Obama is not young for a basketball player.

Question Is there such a thing, in philosophy, as a formula for reconciling two contradictory statements? If not, then are there guidelines or strategies to beginning the reconciliation of two contradictory statements or arguments? Accepted:January 4, 2011

Question Is there such a thing, in philosophy, as a formula for reconciling two contradictory statements? If not, then are there guidelines or strategies to beginning the reconciliation of two contradictory statements or arguments?

Accepted:
January 4, 2011