The Principle of Excluded Middle in Kant

2021 ◽  
pp. 124-141
Author(s):  
Esma Kayar
Keyword(s):  
Logical Necessity ◽  
Negative Judgment ◽  
Logical Negation ◽  
Logical Principle ◽  
Philosophical Project ◽  
Excluded Middle ◽  
Logical Criterion ◽  
Metaphysical Principle

The principle of excluded middle is more important than is commonly believed for understanding Kant's overall philosophical project. In the article, this principle is examined in the following contexts: (i) kinds of judgments, (ii) concepts of opposition, negation, and determination, and (iii) apagogic proof. It is first explained how the principle of excluded middle is employed by Kant in distinguishing between the kinds of judgment. Also called the principle of division, it is the principle of disjunctive and apodictic judgments in Kant's famous table of judgments. Next, the Author shows which kind of opposition is related to the principle of the excluded middle. As a merely logical criterion of truth, this principle grounds the logical necessity of a cognition and plays an important role in the use of apagogical proofs. Then Kant's account of logical negation will be investigated briefly. Negative judgment with a negative copula indicates that something is not contained within the sphere of a given concept. This process occurs in accordance with the principle of excluded middle. Finally, an analysis is made of how Kant presents the metaphysical principle of thoroughgoing determination and its differences from the logical principle of excluded middle.

The Fifth Corner of Four

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Graham Priest
Keyword(s):  
Classical Logic ◽  
Buddhist Philosophy ◽  
First Degree Entailment ◽  
Excluded Middle ◽  
Metaphysical Principle ◽  
True False

The book charts the development of Buddhist metaphysics, drawing on texts which include those of Nagarjuna and Dogen. The development is viewed through the lens of the Catuṣkoṭi At its simplest, and as it appears in the earliest texts, this is a logical/metaphysical principle which says that every claim is true, false, both, or neither; but the principle itself evolves, assuming new forms as the metaphysics develops. An important step in the evolution incorporates ineffability. Such things make no sense from the perspective of a logic which endorses the principles of excluded middle and non-contradiction, which are standard fare in Western logic. However, the book shows how one can make sense of them by applying the techniques of contemporary non-classical logic, such as those of First Degree Entailment, and plurivalent logic. An important issue that emerges as the book develops is the notion of non-duality and its transcendence. This allows many of the threads of the book to be drawn together at its end. All matters are explained, as far as possible, in a way that is accessible to those with no knowledge of Buddhist philosophy or contemporary non-classical logic.

scholarly journals The Law of Non-Contradiction as a Metaphysical Principle

2009 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tuomas E. Tahko
Keyword(s):  
General Principle ◽  
The Core ◽  
The World ◽  
Logical Principle ◽  
The Law ◽  
Core Idea ◽  
Graham Priest ◽  
Metaphysical Principle

The goals of this paper are two-fold: I wish to clarify the Aristotelian conception of the law of non-contradiction as a metaphysical rather than a semantic or logical principle, and to defend the truth of the principle in this sense. First I will explain what it in fact means that the law of non-contradiction is a metaphysical principle. The core idea is that the law of non-contradiction is a general principle derived from how things are in the world. For example, there are certain constraints as to what kind of properties an object can have, and especially: some of these properties are mutually exclusive. Given this characterisation, I will advance to examine what kind of challenges the law of non-contradiction faces—the main opponent here is Graham Priest. I will consider these challenges and conclude that they do not threaten the truth of the law of non-contradiction understood as a metaphysical principle.

Madhyamaka

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Westerhoff
Keyword(s):  
Prima Facie ◽  
Buddhist Philosophy ◽  
The Third ◽  
General Overview ◽  
Philosophical Project

The chapter begins by presenting a general overview of the rise of the Mahāyāna and its relation to the main schools of Buddhist philosophy associated with it, Madhyamaka and Yogācāra. This is followed by an introduction to the Madhyamaka school proper, focusing on the life and works of its founder, Nāgārjuna. The third section of the chapter examines the foundational sūtras of the Madhyamaka school, the Prajñāpāramitā or Perfection of Wisdom texts, focusing on their criticism of the Abhidharma philosophical project, their comprehensive illusionism, and their prima facie acceptance of contradictions. This is followed by an account of how these themes play a key role in the Madhyamaka system as set out by Nāgārjuna. The chapter then turns to examining the philosophical contributions of major Madhyamaka thinkers such as Buddhapālita, Bhāviveka, Candrakīrti, Śāntarakṣita, and Kamalaśīla. The chapter concludes by a discussion of the relation between Madhyamaka and Nyāya.

Essentialism and Logical Consequence

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosanna Keefe ◽  
Jessica Leech
Keyword(s):  
Logical Consequence ◽  
Prima Facie ◽  
Logical Pluralism ◽  
Logical Necessity ◽  
Popular View

According to an increasingly popular view, the source of logical necessity is to be found in the essences of logical entities. One might be tempted to extend the view further in using it to tackle fundamental questions surrounding logical consequence. This chapter enquires: how does a view according to which the facts about logical consequence are determined by the essences of logical entities look in detail? Are there any more or less obvious problems arising for such a view? The chapter uncovers a prima facie result in favour of logical pluralism. However, it then goes on to raise some concerns for this result. It argues that, considered generally, it is difficult to see how essence could do all of the requisite work alone. The chapter also shows how considering things from the perspective of disputes between particular rival logics makes an interesting and important difference to the picture of things presented by the essentialist account.

Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy, Volume 55

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Ancient Philosophy ◽  
Recent Book ◽  
Loss Of Control ◽  
Ancient Greek ◽  
Original Essays ◽  
Constant Change ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Metaphysical Principle

Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy provides, twice each year, a collection of the best current work in the field of ancient philosophy. Each volume features original essays that contribute to an understanding of a wide range of themes and problems in all periods of ancient Greek and Roman philosophy, from the beginnings to the threshold of the Middle Ages. From its first volume in 1983, OSAP has been a highly influential venue for work in the field, and has often featured essays of substantial length as well as critical essays on books of distinctive importance. Volume LV contains: a methodological examination on how the evidence for Presocratic thought is shaped through its reception by later thinkers, using discussions of a world soul as a case study; an article on Plato’s conception of flux and the way in which sensible particulars maintain a kind of continuity while undergoing constant change; a discussion of J. L. Austin’s unpublished lecture notes on Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics and his treatment of loss of control (akrasia); an article on the Stoics’ theory of time and in particular Chrysippus’ conception of the present and of events; and two articles on Plotinus, one that identifies a distinct argument to show that there is a single, ultimate metaphysical principle; and a review essay discussing E. K. Emilsson’s recent book, Plotinus.

The Rise of Christian Theology and the End of Ancient Metaphysics

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johannes Zachhuber
Keyword(s):  
Subsequent Development ◽  
Fourth Century ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Gregory Of Nyssa ◽  
Eastern Christianity ◽  
First Millennium ◽  
Full Analysis ◽  
Conceptual Problems ◽  
Philosophical Project ◽  
First Time

It has rarely been recognized that the Christian writers of the first millennium pursued an ambitious and exciting philosophical project alongside their engagement in the doctrinal controversies of their age. This book offers for the first time a full analysis of this Patristic philosophy. It shows how it took its distinctive shape in the late fourth century and gives an account of its subsequent development until the time of John of Damascus. The book falls into three main parts. The first of them starts from an analysis of the philosophical project underlying the teaching of the Cappadocian fathers, Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nyssa, and Gregory of Nazianzus. This philosophy, arguably the first distinctively Christian theory of being, soon becomes near-universally shared in Eastern Christianity. A few decades after the Cappadocians, all sides in the early Christological controversy take its fundamental tenets for granted. Its application to the Christological problem thus appeared inevitable. Yet it created substantial conceptual problems. Parts II and III of the book describe in detail how these problems led to a series of increasingly radical modifications of the Cappadocian philosophy. The chapters of Part II are dedicated to the miaphysite opponents of the Council of Chalcedon, while Part III discusses the defenders of the Council from the early sixth to the eighth centuries. Through this overview, the book reveals this period as one of remarkable philosophical creativity, fecundity, and innovation.

scholarly journals Spinoza on Melancholy and Cheerfulness

Dialogue ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Christopher Thomas
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Recent Work ◽  
Metaphysical Principle

Abstract Spinoza's philosophy is often celebrated for its strong anti-normative current. Spinoza argues, for instance, that good and bad do not indicate anything positive in things, and that affects are always particular to the situation in which they arise. And yet Spinoza argues that melancholy is “always evil,” and cheerfulness “always good,” thus problematizing a key metaphysical principle of his system. Turning to select sections in the Ethics and Theological-Political Treatise, this article offers a reading of these two problematic affects before connecting Spinoza to recent work on early modern melancholy that conceptualizes it as an ‘assemblage.’

The Secularity of Empire, the Violence of Critique: Muslims, Race, and Sexuality in the Politics of Knowledge‐Production

Hypatia ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 715-730 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sunera Thobani
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Production ◽  
First Century ◽  
The West ◽  
Epistemological Tradition ◽  
Nation States ◽  
Race And Sexuality ◽  
Queer Politics ◽  
Philosophical Project ◽  
Forms Of Violence ◽  
Rare Opportunity

In the volatile conflicts that inaugurated the twenty‐first century, secularism, democracy, and freedom were identified by Western nation‐states as symbolizing their civilizational values, in contrast to the fanaticism, misogyny, and homophobia they attributed to “Islam.” The figure of the Muslim was thus transformed into an existential threat. This paper analyzes an exchange among scholars—Is Critique Secular? Blasphemy, Injury, and Free Speech—that engages these highly contested issues. As such, the text provides a rare opportunity to study how particular significations of the West, its epistemological tradition, and its relation with Islam are contested and negotiated in a critically engaged site during a moment of global crisis. My reading of the text leads me to argue that the stabilization of the epistemic power of the West is presently reliant on a new iteration of its foundational philosophical concepts to suppress counter‐hegemonic narratives that foreground its forms of violence. Further, the terrain for this reshaping of the dominance of this tradition is gender/sexuality, such that queer politics are located at the forefront of the Western politico‐philosophical project. As such, the advancement of this tradition is co‐constitutive with that of the gendered‐sexual subject as emblematic of its highest civilizational values.

THE BISHOP OF MANCHESTER ON “SYMBOLISM AS A METAPHYSICAL PRINCIPLE”

Mind ◽  
1923 ◽  
Vol XXXII (125) ◽  
pp. 139-a-139
Author(s):  
E. W. EDWARDS
Keyword(s):  
Metaphysical Principle
Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document