This week, I want to discuss the similarities of the paradoxes I have
mentioned in the previous weeks and give a brief summary to these paradoxes.
First of all, let’s start with self-reference. Actually, the word self-reference
implies a sentence, a statement or an idea which refers to itself. For example,
if you says,” I’m what I describe in this sentence”, then you talk about “the sentence
itself”, and hence the sentence is self-referring.
In fact, there are lots of jokes induced by self-reference. For
instance, look at the following picture:
The joke is amusing because the dog use what the man just utters to make
the man embarrassed. That question from the dog is an example of
self-reference.
Moreover, self-reference can be used for controverting others’
ideas. It is common that we hear about the following conversation:
A says,” I have no beliefs.”
B asks,” Is it what you believe?”
A replies,” Yes, I believe that all beliefs are neither true nor
false.”
B replies,” So it is your belief! You do have your belief!”
The conversation actually reveals how self-reference can work for
debating and controverting.
Finally, get back to our topic. Most of the paradoxes are induced by
self-reference! Think of the Pinocchio paradox. Pinocchio says,” My nose will
be growing.” What he says has already referred to the rule imposed on him,
because the result of telling lies will be the growth of his nose!
Pondering on the Curry paradox and the barber paradox, you will find
their similarities that all of them talk about themselves in the statement! Therefore,
it is why self-reference plays a significant role in philosophy.
And let me give a brief summary for the post in these weeks.
Perhaps you will wonder why we should learn the paradoxes. Are they
useful? Are they close to our life? The answer may be no. Nonetheless, as the
noted philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel says, everything evolves and
develops in the unity and conflict of opposites, and undergoes a progress of “negation
of negation” (continuously negating itself), finally being rational and
approaching to the truth, or what he calls, absolute knowledge. Perhaps by
getting deep thoughts of paradoxes and contradiction, we can really understand
the world more clearly and intrinsically.
The pictures are from
Maybe they are not useful, but they are really interesting. And I do learn from them.
回覆刪除They are really interesting.
回覆刪除I consider they useful because they help us to think deeply.
Interesting! But I don't think so much in everyday life.
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