The book is a monograph devoted to paradoxes of reasoning in the European tradition of philosophical logic. For each paradox, it analyses important attempts at its solution.The content is arranged according to the new classification of paradoxes presented by the author. The paradoxes discussed in the first three chapters can be called intra-linguistic ones. The first chapter analyzes paradoxes resulting from a clash between a logically correct reasoning and previously accepted opinions. The second one is devoted to paradoxes resulting from the error of ambiguity. The third one analyzes reasonings, whose paradoxical character originates in self-referent language constructions. Chapter four discusses paradoxes which are called ontological ones, whose existence results from a confrontation between the language description of reality and that reality itself.
The book is written in a clear way and does not require advanced knowledge of logic. It is addressed to readers with either humanist or scientific educational background and deals with important problems of language, cognition and reasoning in an accessible way.
Trends in Logic Volume 31
For further volumes: http://www.springer.com/series/6645
TRENDS IN LOGIC Studia Logica Library VOLUME 31 Managing Editor Ryszard Wójcicki, Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland Editors Wieslaw Dziobiak, University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez, USA Melvin Fitting, City University of New York, USA Vincent F. Hendricks, Department of Philosophy and Science Studies, Roskilde University, Denmark Daniele Mundici, Department of Mathematics ‘‘Ulisse Dini’’, University of Florence, Italy Ewa Orłowska, National Institute of Telecommunications, Warsaw, Poland Krister Segerberg, Department of Philosophy, Uppsala University, Sweden Heinrich Wansing, Institute of Philosophy, Dresden University of Technology, Germany
SCOPE OF THE SERIES Trends in Logic is a bookseries covering essentially the same area as the journal Studia Logica – that is, contemporary formal logic and its applications and relations to other disciplines. These include artificial intelligence, informatics, cognitive science, philosophy of science, and the philosophy of language. However, this list is not exhaustive, moreover, the range of applications, comparisons and sources of inspiration is open and evolves over time. Volume Editor Heinrich Wansing
Piotr Łukowski
Paradoxes
123
Piotr Łukowski Department of Cognitive Science University of Łódz´ Smugowa 10/12 91-433 Łódz´ Poland e-mail:
[email protected]
Translated by Marek Gensler ISBN 978-94-007-1475-5
e-ISBN 978-94-007-1476-2
DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-1476-2 Springer Dordrecht Heidelberg London New York Ó Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2011 No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher, with the exception of any material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work. Cover design: eStudio Calamar, Berlin/Figueres Printed on acid-free paper Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com)
To my Parents, Maria and Zdzisław
Contents
1
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1 3
2
Paradoxes of Wron