Logic

Can tautology be defined as "unnecessary repetition of information"? In other words, does tautology have the same sense as repetition? Thanks.

Comments

In my experience, not every philosopher treats repetition as essential to a tautology. Sometimes I've seen "tautology" used to denote any logical or conceptual truth, even one that doesn't contain repetition, such as "All bachelors are unmarried." But I think most would agree that any statement that's logically true at least partly because of repetition, such as "All bachelors are bachelors," counts as a tautology.

Whether the repetition is "unnecessary" requires asking, "Unnecessary for what?" If you start a statement with "All bachelors are...", there are plenty of ways to finish it that won't produce a truth, but repetition will. Yet repetition isn't necessary in order to produce a truth. Furthermore, repetition isn't sufficient for truth: "2+2=5. I repeat: 2+2=5."

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