another view from a bridge over Husitská.

Unedited / Flexaret 5 / Fuji PRO 400H
© Copyright 2015 mdvb

FF UK

Filozofická fakulta Univerzita Karlova v Praze 
(Department of Philosophy Charles University in Prague)
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© Copyright 2015 mdvb

a view from the bridge above Husitská.

Unedited / Flexaret 5 / Fuji PRO 400H
© Copyright 2015 mdvb

explosion sans disjunctive syllogism and (v in).

                             ┝  (A • ~A) ⊃ B

1.    A • ~A            (assumption)

2.     A                    (• out)

3.    ~A ⊃ B           (⊃ in)

4.    ~A                   (• out)

5.    B                      (MP)

6.     (A • ~A) ⊃ B      (CP)

on perspectives.

“Two men are sometimes found to perceive very similar perspectives…”

Bertrand Russell, Our Knowledge of the External World

That’s weird. I’ve never perceived a perspective. Much less have I perceived two other persons perceiving very similar perspectives. Or should I say: I’ve never perceived my perspective of two other persons perceiving very similar perspectives. But maybe Russell has a special perspective-perceiving faculty which allows him to perceive not only his own perspectives but also the perspectives of others? 

on looking outside my window.

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© Copyright 2015 mdvb

A v ~A = bivalence

Look. If you say that excluded middle is the thesis that either A or not A and your use of ‘or’ is truth functional, then you’re saying that at least one of two statements is true: A or A’s negation. To say that A is true or not A is true is just to affirm bivalence. Therefore, if you express excluded middle with a truth functional ‘or’ then you’ve expressed bivalence. End rant.  

Dostoevsky and Aristotle on life.

Dostoevsky’s ridiculous man tells us that,‘“The consciousness of life is higher than life, the knowledge of the laws of happiness is higher than happiness”—that is what must be fought!’

It appears that Aristotle has similar sentiments:

“…but still, in the case of virtue, the most valuable thing is not to have knowledge of it, but to know from what sources it arises. For what we wish is to be courageous, not to know what courage is; to be just, not to know what justice is; in the same way as we wish to be healthy rather than to know what being healthy is, and to be in a good state, rather than to know what it is to be in a good state.”  (Eudemian Ethics I, 9)

A question I have for the ridiculous man: Though you deny that the consciousness of life is higher than life, do you also deny that the consciousness of life is required for life?

explosion sans disjunctive syllogism.

┝  (A • ~A) ⊃ B    

  1.  A • ~A      assumption

  2.  A              (• out)

  3.  A v B        (v in)

  4.  ~A ⊃ B    (⊃ in)

  5.  ~A           (• out)

  6.   B             (MP)

7.  (A • ~A) ⊃ B    (CP)