tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10584495.post8573219883869490042..comments2024-03-28T12:34:14.649-07:00Comments on dangerous idea: The prove it game Victor Repperthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10962948073162156902noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10584495.post-40585197815422990392020-09-07T13:32:38.653-07:002020-09-07T13:32:38.653-07:00Well, if proof means an argument, said argument wi...Well, if proof means an argument, said argument will need true premises. Said premises will need proof themselves, and so on, until we reach premises that are acceptable to both parties without proof. That's how logic goes unfortunately. And a determined holdout can no doubt keep quibbling for ever. At each iteration he gets a whole new bunch of premises to pick at!<br /><br />Lewis Carroll's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What_the_Tortoise_Said_to_Achilles" rel="nofollow">What the Tortoise Said to Achilles</a> shows what happens if you treat rules of inference as premises.David Brightlyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06757969974801621186noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10584495.post-44206937768859393402020-09-01T02:29:58.762-07:002020-09-01T02:29:58.762-07:00Good one, Legion. Chalmers' universal refutati...Good one, Legion. Chalmers' universal refutation is also quite good: you ask someone to explain themselves, and then say "that's what you think." (Incidentally, I seem to recall that the prove it game derives from an idea by Lewis Carroll in a 1895 paper in <i>Mind</i>, and is called the Carrollian regress.)Martin Cookehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11425491938517935179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10584495.post-31158890867666241052020-08-31T22:04:30.955-07:002020-08-31T22:04:30.955-07:00Or my favorite, when something is denied to exist ...Or my favorite, when something is denied to exist and you provide an example of that thing, they digitally roll their eyes and declare that one example means nothing.Kevinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02593005679430527458noreply@blogger.com