On the Principle of Excluded Middle
I carry out in this paper a philosophical analysis of the principle of excluded middle (or, as it is often called in the version I favor here, principle of bivalence: any meaningful assertion is either true or false). This principle has been criticized, and sometimes rejected, on the charge that its...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina
2011-05-01
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| Series: | Principia: An International Journal of Epistemology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://periodicos.ufsc.br/index.php/principia/article/view/23380 |
| _version_ | 1818986031940108288 |
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| author | Jairo José da Silva |
| author_facet | Jairo José da Silva |
| author_sort | Jairo José da Silva |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | I carry out in this paper a philosophical analysis of the principle of excluded middle (or, as it is often called in the version I favor here, principle of bivalence: any meaningful assertion is either true or false). This principle has been criticized, and sometimes rejected, on the charge that its validity depends on presuppositions that are not, some believe, universally obtainable; in particular, that any well-posed problem is solvable. My goal here is to show that, although excluded middle does indeed rest on certain presuppositions, they do not have the character of hypotheses that may or may not be true, or matters of fact that may or may not be the case. These presuppositions have, I claim, a transcendental character. Hence, the acceptance of excluded middle does not necessarily require, as some have claimed, an allegiance to ontological realism or some sort of cognitive optimism, construed as factual theses concerning the ontological status of domains of objects and our capability of accessing them cognitively. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-20T18:44:20Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e406453d76ae45ae933abea3329daaca |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1414-4247 1808-1711 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-20T18:44:20Z |
| publishDate | 2011-05-01 |
| publisher | Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Principia: An International Journal of Epistemology |
| spelling | doaj.art-e406453d76ae45ae933abea3329daaca2022-12-21T19:29:44ZengUniversidade Federal de Santa CatarinaPrincipia: An International Journal of Epistemology1414-42471808-17112011-05-0115210.5007/1808-1711.2011v15n2p33317348On the Principle of Excluded MiddleJairo José da Silva0Departamento de Matemática UNESP – Rio Claro Av. 24 A, 1515, Bela Vista 13506-900 Rio Claro, SPI carry out in this paper a philosophical analysis of the principle of excluded middle (or, as it is often called in the version I favor here, principle of bivalence: any meaningful assertion is either true or false). This principle has been criticized, and sometimes rejected, on the charge that its validity depends on presuppositions that are not, some believe, universally obtainable; in particular, that any well-posed problem is solvable. My goal here is to show that, although excluded middle does indeed rest on certain presuppositions, they do not have the character of hypotheses that may or may not be true, or matters of fact that may or may not be the case. These presuppositions have, I claim, a transcendental character. Hence, the acceptance of excluded middle does not necessarily require, as some have claimed, an allegiance to ontological realism or some sort of cognitive optimism, construed as factual theses concerning the ontological status of domains of objects and our capability of accessing them cognitively.https://periodicos.ufsc.br/index.php/principia/article/view/23380Excluded-middlelogical principlestranscendental logicphenomenology |
| spellingShingle | Jairo José da Silva On the Principle of Excluded Middle Principia: An International Journal of Epistemology Excluded-middle logical principles transcendental logic phenomenology |
| title | On the Principle of Excluded Middle |
| title_full | On the Principle of Excluded Middle |
| title_fullStr | On the Principle of Excluded Middle |
| title_full_unstemmed | On the Principle of Excluded Middle |
| title_short | On the Principle of Excluded Middle |
| title_sort | on the principle of excluded middle |
| topic | Excluded-middle logical principles transcendental logic phenomenology |
| url | https://periodicos.ufsc.br/index.php/principia/article/view/23380 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT jairojosedasilva ontheprincipleofexcludedmiddle |