Matthew Ang
83393632
27 August 2017
Puzzles and Paradoxes
Second Paper
Moore’s Paradox In order to understand the concept of Moore’s Paradox, we must first assess and understand the behavior of logical and performative contradictions. Credited for devising and examining this paradox, George Edward Moore, a British philosopher who taught at the University of Cambridge and studied ethics, epistemology, and metaphysics describes the paradox in its omissive and commissive forms in which we will discuss thoroughly. I will then express my standpoint on which solution is the most optimal choice for Moore’s Paradox in order to analyze and explain why I believe my solution is superior to other solutions. I will also discuss any issues that arise
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A logical contradiction is an assertion or a claim that contains both a proposition and its denial given in the form p and not-p. In this case, both of these statements cannot both be true due to the law of noncontradiction. Similar to the principle of bivalence, this law states the declarative statement must be either true or false and cannot be both true at the same time in the same sense. A classic example of a logical contradiction is to assert that “it is raining and it is not raining.” The proposition p is “it is raining” and its denial not-p is “it is not raining.” Because “it is raining” and “it is not raining” cannot be both true at the same time, this statement leads to a logical contradiction when we assume the principle of bivalence or the law of noncontradiction. Some other examples would include statements such as “I know that nothing can be known” and “All general claims have exceptions.” Unlike a logical contradiction, a performative contradiction arises “when the content of an assertion contradicts the act of asserting it or the presuppositions of asserting …show more content…
For example, “It is raining but I don‘t believe it is” (Moore 1942: 543) is a Moorean statement because even though it appears as an absurd statement, it can still be true which is paradoxical. Moorean statements come in two forms: omissive and commissive. The omissive form is when a statement follows the following arrangement: p and I do not believe that p. The example we just used was a Moorean statement in its omissive form where “it is raining” is p and “I do not believe it is” is the second part of the form. Asserting that “it is raining” (p), one implies that one believes in their assertion. This is Moore’s first principle (1942). However, that means it contradicts with the second statement that “I do not believe it is” resulting in a paradox. It demonstrates that what one asserts and what one implies by asserting it would ultimately lead to a contradiction. The commissive form is when a statement follows the following arrangement: p and I believe that not-p or I believe that p, but it is not the case for p. An example of this would be “It is raining and I believe that it is not raining.” Asserting the “it is raining” (p), one also implies that one does not believe in not-p. This is Moore’s second principle (1944). In this case, it implies that I do not believe it is not raining which is contradictory to the second part of the
The underlying paradox of irrationality, from which no theory can entirely escape, is this: if we explain it too well, we turn it into a concealed form of rationality; while if we assign incoherence too glibly, we merely compromise our ability to diagnose irrationality by withdrawing the background of rationality needed to justify any diagnosis at all. (1)
The Other Wes Moore is a book talking about two different men with the same name,Wes Moore. They were both raised up by a single mother and live in the same decaying city, Baltimore, where there are surrounded by drug and alcohol. However, the author Wes Moore’s parents completed their education and have a good job while his grandparents also were well-educated. But the other Wes Moore’s parents didn’t graduate from college, his mother tried to get the scholarship but failed, and his father left high school and don’t have a job either. This two Wes Moores both grew up with their mother. The author Wes’s father died for disease while the other Wes’s father left his family. With this situation, they went to the same direction, being absent from
In The Other Wes Moore, male figures, specifically male role models, play an important part both Wes Moores’ lives and and are eventually what make or break their futures.
Despite the belief that people can achieve extraordinary things regardless of their circumstances, One’s environment plays a monumental part in the chances of their success. An example of how environment influences fate is through two men named Wes Moore in the novel “The Other Wes Moore” by author Wes Moore. Author Wes reflects on his and the Other Wes’ life journey and their difficult lives through constant struggle in their neighborhood, school, and family issues. In many ways, Author Wes and Other Wes shared very similar characteristics regarding their personality and environment, but what astronomically differed was their upbringings. Author Wes was given the gift of a supporting background in the form of his mother while Other Wes had
In “The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates,” written by Wes Moore the author writes about two boys growing up in Baltimore that share the same name and similar backgrounds but end up taking drastically different paths in life due to many varying factors. The author goes on to earn a college degree, become a Rhodes Scholar, a veteran and more while the “other” Wes cannot avoid the inevitable fate of dealing drugs and ultimately spends his life running from the police and in prison. This reflects how both Wes Moore’s became products of their environment as the way a person is shaped and guided in their developmental years does unquestionably play a large role in the type of person they will become as adults. A lot of elements come into play that help to determine a person’s success or failure, but at the end of the day the most important factors are family, education and opportunities.
Why have the two boys, with the same name and grew up fatherless in the similar poverty-stricken neighborhoods, developed into two dramatically different individuals: a Rhodes Scholar and a convicted inmate? While the book The Other Wes Moore goes to great length to answer the question profoundly, I also mull over just how and why the two Wes Moores have chosen their own paths to the opposed destines. According to the book, environment, family, education, others’ expectation, and opportunities are the primary factors contributing to the two Wes Moores’ failure and success. On the top of those factors, I find that the role models, the supports of their mothers, and the choices they made are surely worth
In 1950, a man, Enrico Fermi, during a lunch break conversation he causally asked his co-workers an interesting question, “where is everybody”. (Howell, 2014) By which he meant, since there are over a million planets which are proficient enough to support life and possibly some sort of intelligent species, so how come no one has visited earth? This became known as The Fermi Paradox, which came from his surname and two Greek words, para meaning contrary and Doxa meaning opinion, about a 100 years ago. (Webb 2002) A paradox arises when you set undisputable evidence and then a certain conclusion contradicts the idea. For example, Fermi realized that extra-terrestrials have had a large amount of time to appear
“The Other Wes Moore” tells a story, two boys that has one name, but their lives are not
Ralph Waldo Emerson was a philosopher and transcendentalist of the 19th century, composing controversial, philosophical and religious essays in order to inform people. Emerson was a strong influence on other personalities of his time, including American figures such as; “Henry Thoreau” and “Walt Whitman”. “Emerson’s father (William Emerson) influenced the good taste of Emerson’s essays due to he was a man of the church.” William died because of a stomach cancer just two weeks before Ralph Waldo fulfilled eight years old. This death leads the family to an edge of poverty and a life of limited luxuries. That’s the point when Emerson’s career began. “His mother managed so that all of her children could get accepted into Harvard University with scholarships.” There was Ralph's stop when he was only fourteen years old. In Harvard College he was an apprentice under the president of the constitution. The task was to accuse his colleagues in criminal activity letting the ‘faculty’ know. Meanwhile, Emerson began keeping a list of books he had read and started a journal in a series of notebooks that would be called ‘World Wide’. Emerson performed odd jobs to cover his school expenses, including as a waiter for the Junior Commons and occasionally working as a teacher with his uncle Samuel in Waltham, Massachusetts. He began his famous Journal, an anthology and patchwork of passages that surprised and astonished his readers with their comments, ended up reaching 182 volumes. In his senior year at Harvard, Emerson decided to take his middle name as Waldo. He attended class Poetry; as usual, and presented an original poem on Harvard's Class Day, a month before his official graduation. On August 29, 1821, when he was 18 not noted as a student he...
According to the notes from class, true paradox is defined as two ideas or principles that seem irreconcilable with each other, but prove on closer scrutiny, simultaneously valid. The theory of paradox is recommended to address and remove the ineffectiveness of opposing viewpoints. The benefit of the theory of paradox is that it seeks to recognize and value all perspectives. It also encourages using the effective aspects of all perspectives.
To conclude the master argument is first knocked out by Lamont not providing the full “Illusion Argument,” by not giving the reader the full argument it makes his master argument false. The fact the three separate arguments are based around the same idea it affirms the master argument must be false as it does not have enough to attack the Determinist “Illusion
This book is telling a story about two African American boys (Wes A and Wes P) who have the same name and grew up at same community, but they have a very different life. The author, Wes A, begins his life in a tough Baltimore neighborhood and end up as a Rhodes Scholar, Wall Streeter, and a white house fellow; The other Wes Moore begins at the same place in Baltimore , but ends up in prison for the rest of his life. Then why do they have the same experience, but still have a totally different life? I will agree here that environment (family environment, school education environment and society environment) is one of the biggest reasons for their different.
Russell’s Theory of Definite Description has totally changed the way we view definite descriptions by solving the three logical paradoxes. It is undeniable that the theory itself is not yet perfect and there can be objections on this theory. Still, until now, Russell’s theory is the most logical explanation of definite description’s role.
The largest difference between expressed solutions to the temporal paradox is in what degree they assume deterministic behavior of the time line. The time line protection hypothesis(2) is a rigidly deterministic solution to the temporal paradox, one that hypothesizes that any action that can cause a paradox will ultimately fail, due to some unforeseen twist of fate. This paradox assumes that all time travel to the past is (or will) become part of t...
4. “Without application in the real world, the value of knowledge is greatly diminished.” Consider this claim with respect to two areas of knowledge.