Interlude: Hui Shi along the River Hao
Interlude: Hui Shi along the River HaoHui Shi (born 4th century BCE) was a Chinese logician who often appeared in Daoist texts as a sort of Devil’s advocate to the philosophical musings of Zhuangzi. In...
View ArticleIn Defense of the Nominative
summary: the musing that while naming objects or concepts necessarily places them into artificial categories, it is an invaluable skill for expressing knowledge, even if it is not inherently necessary...
View ArticleAddendum to Sets and Genera
At the banquet table, the Lady in Gray listens as paradoxes are shared."This statement is false.""All truth is falsehood.""Only lies exit my lips."She smiles, and offers a phrase in place of a complete...
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The Box of That Which Can Be Known
summary: a musing on set diagrams in exploration of the idea that a proper study of logic will not neglect the production of visual, non-verbal diagrams to represent separationMankind's impulse to...
View ArticleThe Law of Identity Is the Law of Logic
A = AThis simple declaration is the foundation of all logic. Whether her politics inspire cheers or chills, Ms. Ayn Rand was correct in asserting that the Law of Identity ("if it's true, it's true,"...
View ArticleThere's a Chance
I had a professor of a class dedicated to the history of Western music use this song to illustrate various elements of music. It took us by surprise, because it was the only foray into modern pop the...
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From Pāṇini to a Musing on Grammar in Education
summary: just a rant about the need to teach grammar, likely riddled with grammatical errors.One of the rough generalizations common to average thinking is that Western thought tends to be regimented...
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a rattling sound/a resounding gong
a rattling sound/a resounding gongafter the eloquent propagandistIn full view of the gathering throng strodethe hierophant, fresh from the citadel,a swelling firestorm of wit and words,bellowing:...
View ArticleReality Is Not Ambiguous, Only Perception and Expression
If I could ask armchair physicists and amateur logicians to do one thing, it would be to put Schrödinger's cat to sleep - or just leave it a saucer of milk and ignore the damn thing. The cat is never...
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Yet Another Vaguely Philosophical Blog That Adores Ryan North
The first thing I did when I became a logic teacher was to find an appropriate comic from Ryan North that I could use on the first day of class. I would posit that this comic is truly the geekiest...
View ArticleJoyous Winter Solstice
The ever-inspiring fifth poem of Catullus fits the day:Vivamus mea Lesbia atque amemusRumoresque senum severiorumOmnes unius aestimemus assis.Soles occidere et redire possunt;Nobis, cum semel occidit...
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Accessibility and the Issue of Vagueness
Ambiguity, as opposed to vagueness. Also, to stretch the applicability of this comic, an example of language used to express an idea instead of merely categorize it for personal useIn the last post, I...
View ArticleAmphiboly & Equivocation
These two fallacies are easy to mix up, especially for students in their first course of logic. Both involve language leading to multiple meanings. An amphiboly is a misunderstanding that results from...
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The Vel-Aut Problem
I've found the gift to give myself this Christmas. Well, I already ordered two twelve packs of Cherry RC Cola (not available in my area), but still...it's the season to give. The Genealogy of...
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The Straw Men Among Us, and the Nowhere Man That Is Us
My previous post about the much-repeated and possibly-mythical definitions of the Latin words aut and vel reminds me of the concept of truthiness. After all, it seems true that the reason we use "v" in...
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With a Different Meaning
I noted that much could be done in an introductory logic course to dissect "We Can Work It Out" by the Beatles. Likewise, this wonderfully soulful track can be used to illustrate numerous points of...
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