Q&A: There Is No Claim About the World That Cannot Be Refuted
Originally published:
This is an English translation (via GPT-5.4). Read the original Hebrew version.
There Is No Claim About the World That Cannot Be Refuted
Question
Have a good week, Rabbi,
In the last lecture on Talmudic Logic you said that there is no claim about the world that cannot be refuted. I wanted to ask whether that claim itself is a claim about the world. And can it itself be refuted?
Best regards,
Answer
First, this is not a claim about the world (that is, about facts in the world). It is a claim about claims. Second, it can be refuted. If you find a claim that cannot be refuted (Descartes thought that the “cogito” — I think, therefore I exist — is such a claim. Anselm thought that his proof for the existence of God is such a claim).