Maverick Philosopher

Footnotes to Plato from the foothills of the Superstition Mountains

Category: Paradoxes

  • A Question about Use and Mention

    Here is a curious sentence suggested to me by London Ed: 1) The last word in this sentence refers to cats. (1) is part of a larger puzzle the discussion which we leave for later.  My question is this: Can a word be both used and mentioned in the same sentence?  It would seem so.…

  • What Exactly is Kripke’s Puzzle About Belief?

    I will try to explain it as clearly and succinctly as I can.  I will explain the simplest version of the puzzle, the 'monoglot' version.  We shall cleave to English as to our dear mother. The puzzle is generated by the collision of two principles, one concerning reference, the other concerning disquotation.  Call them MILL…

  • Nothing is Written in Stone

    The curiosity to the left, sent to me without commentary by the inscrutable and seldom seen Seldom Seen Slim, raises a number of deep and fascinating questions. The sentence to the left can be read either literally or metaphorically. My analysis in this entry is concerned with a literal reading only. 1. If nothing is…

  • A ‘Progressive’ Paradox

    Leftists like to call themselves 'progressives.'  We can't begrudge them their self-appellation any more than we can begrudge the Randians their calling themselves 'objectivists.'  Every person and every movement has the right to portray himself or itself favorably and self-servingly.  "We are objective in our approach, unlike you mystics." But if you are progressive, why…

  • Good Friday: At the Mercy of a Little Piece of Iron

    Simone Weil, Gravity and Grace, tr. Craufurd, Routledge 1995, p. 75: The infinite which is in man is at the mercy of a little piece of  iron; such is the human condition; space and time are the cause of  it. It is impossible to handle this piece of iron without suddenly reducing the infinite which…

  • More on the Putative Paradox of Forgiveness

    This just over the transom:  Finally, a post on forgiveness. 🙂 But my spirit within me won't permit me to forgo responding to what you've written. You characterize the paradox this way: It is morally objectionable to forgive those who will not admit wrongdoing, show no remorse, make no amends, do not pay restitution, etc. …

  • The Putative Paradox of Forgiveness

    I understand Aurel Kolnai has a paper on this topic.  I haven't read it.  But the paradox has been put to me as follows in conversation. It is morally objectionable to forgive those who will not admit wrongdoing, show no remorse, make no amends, do not pay restitution, etc.  But if forgiveness is made conditional upon…

  • Fiscal Irresponsibility as Politically Rational: The Fiscal Prisoners’ Dilemma

    Glenn Hubbard and Tim Kane, Regaining America's Balance. Excerpt: There are two paths toward reducing deficits and debts of the magnitude we face: raising taxes or cutting spending. A balanced compromise would involve some amount of both, but the two political parties face strong electoral incentives to do neither. If Republicans push for reduced spending,…

  • The Paradox of the Preface and the Law of Non-Contradiction

    Suppose an author exercises due diligence in the researching and writing of a nonfiction book. He has good reason to believe that all of the statements he makes in the book are true. But he is also well aware of human fallibility and that he is no exception to the rule. And so, aware of…

  • Neologisms, Paleologisms, and Grelling’s Paradox

    'Neologism' is not a new word, but an old word. Hence, 'neologism' is not a neologism. 'Paleologism' is not a word at all; or at least it is not listed in the Oxford English Dictionary. But it ought to be a word, so I hereby introduce it. Who is going to stop me? Having read…

  • Butchvarov Against Facts

    In his essay, "Facts," (Studies in the Ontology of Reinhardt Grossmann, Javier Cumpa, ed., Ontos Verlag, 2010, p. 83) Panayot Butchvarov generously cites me as a defender of realism and a proponent of facts.  He credits me with doing something William P. Alston does not do in his theory of facts, namely, specifying their mode…

  • Eric Hoffer, Contentment, and the Paradox of Plenty

    Eric Hoffer as quoted in James D. Koerner, Hoffer's America (Open Court, 1973), p. 25: I need little to be contented. Two meals a day, tobacco, books that hold my interest, and a little writing each day. This to me is a full life. And this after a full day at the San Francisco waterfront…

  • Josiah Royce and the Religious Paradox

    There are tough questions about the possibility and the actuality of divine revelation. An examination of some ideas of the neglected philosopher Josiah Royce (1855-1916) from the Golden Age of American philosophy will help us clarify some of the issues and problems. One such problem is this: How can one know in a given case…

  • Van Inwagen on the Ship of Theseus

    Peter van Inwagen's Material Beings (Cornell UP, 1990) is a very strange book, but he is a brilliant man, so one can expect to learn something from it. A central claim is that artifacts such as tables and chairs and ships do not exist. One can appreciate  that if there are no ships then the…

  • Paradoxes of Illegal Immigration

    Philosophers hate a contradiction, but love a paradox.  There are paradoxes everywhere, in the precincts of the most abstruse as well as in the precincts of the prosaic.  Here are eight paradoxes of illegal immigration suggested to me by Victor Davis Hanson.    The titles and formulations are my own.  For good measure, I add a ninth,…