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Is this a logical contradiction?

שו”תCategory: philosophyIs this a logical contradiction?
asked 4 years ago

Is it a contradiction in definition to say that something is “unconceivable” and therefore is understood as unconceivable?


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מיכי Staff answered 4 years ago
This is a semantic matter, as it depends on the definition of the concepts: 1. What does ‘concept’ mean? 2. What does ‘unconceivable’ mean? By the first question I mean the decision of whether the understanding that something is unattainable is itself an achievement of it or not. It is a matter of definition. By the second question, I mean the discussion of whether when you achieve a certain aspect of something it ceases to be unattainable, or whether it is unattainable from the other aspects. Again, a matter of definition. If you assume that such an error is an error and answer that unattainable means from all aspects, then it is clear that it is impossible to say about something that it is unattainable. If the understanding that it is unattainable is itself not its attainment, then of course there is no problem. And if this understanding is an achievement but ‘unachievable’ refers to its other aspects, again there is no problem.

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פלג replied 4 years ago

Thanks for the very quick reply,
How can one make a statement about something and say that it is not his achievement?

מיכי Staff replied 4 years ago

Decide for yourself. I gave you two options. If you think this is indeed his achievement, then you can't say you don't have any achievement in him.

הפוסק האחרון replied 4 years ago

It is a contradiction to say about something that it is unattainable.
On the one hand, “something” and on the other hand, “unattainable”.
For example, you can't really say about God that he is unattainable, because if so, then what is God? What you can say is about things that are not God. Then God is defined by negation.

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