Hewitt, ST orcid.org/0000-0003-2720-4428 (2022) Need anything follow from a contradiction? Inquiry: an interdisciplinary journal of philosophy, 65 (3). pp. 278-297. ISSN 0020-174X
Abstract
Classical and intuitionistic logic both validate Ex Contradictione Quodlibet (ECQ), according to which any proposition whatsoever follows from a contradiction. Many philosophers have found ECQ counter-intuitive, but criticisms of the principle have almost universally been directed from a position of support for relevance or other orthodox paraconsistent logics, according to which some, but not necessarily all, propositions follow from a contradiction. This paper draws attention to the historically significant view that nothing whatsoever follows from a contradiction – Ex Contradictione Nihil (ECN). It addresses the key arguments – model-theoretic, proof-theoretic, meaning theoretic and holist – deployed by proponents of ECQ against their standard opponents, and shows that each can be defeated from a position of support for ECN. In the course of answering these arguments, some understanding is developed of possible motivations for ECN and a solid case is built that ECN deserves further investigation.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an author produced version of a journal article published in Inquiry. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | Contradictions, ex contradictione quodlibet, paraconsistency, logical consequence |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures (Leeds) > School of Philosophy, Religion and History of Science (Leeds) > School of Philosophy (Leeds) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number Leverhulme Trust ECF-2017-123 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 09 Jan 2020 14:26 |
Last Modified: | 05 Jul 2022 14:24 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Taylor & Francis |
Identification Number: | 10.1080/0020174X.2020.1762728 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:155415 |