An Introduction to Analytic Philosophy: Paradoxes, Arguments and Contemporary Problems

127 Pages·2013·2.04 MB·English

by  Paul Franceschi

AN INTRODUCTION TO
ANALYTIC PHILOSOPHY

PARADOXES, ARGUMENTS AND
CONTEMPORARY PROBLEMS

Paul Franceschi
Copyright © 2013 Paul Franceschi
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 1482739836
ISBN-13: 978-1482739831
From P. to T.
TABLE OF CONTENTS

CREDITS
INTRODUCTION TO THE ENGLISH EDITION
1. THE LIAR PARADOX
2. THE SORITES PARADOX
3. RUSSELL'S PARADOX
4. THE SURPRISE EXAMINATION PARADOX
5. GOODMAN'S PARADOX
6. NEWCOMB’S PROBLEM
7. THE PRISONER’S DILEMMA
8. CANTOR'S PARADOX
9. GRELLING’S PARADOX
10. THE TWO-ENVELOPE PARADOX
11. MOORE’S PARADOX
12. LÖB’S PARADOX
13. THE RACE COURSE PARADOX
14. THE STONE PARADOX
15. THE DOOMSDAY ARGUMENT
16. THE SHIP OF THESEUS PROBLEM
17. HEMPEL’S PROBLEM
18. MCTAGGART’S ARGUMENT
19. THE ONTOLOGICAL ARGUMENT
20. THE FINE-TUNING ARGUMENT
21. THE DREAMING ARGUMENT
22. THE “BRAINS IN A VAT” EXPERIMENT
23. THE TELEOLOGICAL ARGUMENT
24. PASCAL'S WAGER
25. THE ARGUMENT FROM EVIL
26. DESCARTES' COGITO
27. LEWIS CAROLL'S ARGUMENT
28. THE TWIN EARTH THOUGHT EXPERIMENT
29. THE ARGUMENT AGAINST THE PRINCIPLE OF VERIFIABILITY
30. THE ALLEGORY OF THE CAVE
31. THE SIMULATION ARGUMENT
32. THE DUALIST ARGUMENT FROM DIVISIBILITY
33. THE SLEEPING BEAUTY PROBLEM
34. THE EVIL DEMON ARGUMENT
35. SEARLE'S CHINESE ROOM ARGUMENT
36. THE TURING TEST
37. GETTIER'S PROBLEM
38. FREGE'S PUZZLE ABOUT IDENTITY STATEMENTS
39. THE PARADOX OF ANALYSIS
40. HERACLITUS' RIVER PUZZLE
CONCLUSION
BIBLIOGRAPHY
INTERNET SITES
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I thank Francis Antona, Christian Carayon and Eric Odin for very useful
comments on earlier drafts.
CREDITS

The illustrations were made with Blender software (http://www.blender.org/).
INTRODUCTION TO THE ENGLISH EDITION
This book aims to provide an introduction to analytic philosophy. It is primarily
intended for readers who want to be initiated into this philosophical style. The
approach that I have chosen to offer the reader for that introduction is the same
as that by which I myself was introduced to analytic philosophy: the presentation
of the most famous problems and paradoxes. An advantage of this approach is
that there is no need for any prerequisites. This book aims thus at presenting a
significant number of contemporary issues in analytic philosophy. It consists
then of illustrating how the approach that is pursued involves the accurate
description of problems, clearly identified, and whose presentation does not
suffer from ambiguity. The approach adopted throughout this book will therefore
consist of the description of a large number of contemporary philosophical
problems, thus illustrating the methodology used in analytic philosophy, which
consists in describing with precision—often step by step—a number of problems
for which there exists, at present, no consensual solution. It may be useful for
this purpose to classify contemporary philosophical problems into three distinct
categories: paradoxes, arguments and problems per se. Each of these three types
of problem is exposed, in what follows, and usually accompanied by one or
more solutions that have been proposed in the contemporary literature.
I will endeavor first to describe a number of paradoxes. The most famous of
them are rooted in antiquity and remain still unresolved: the Liar, the sorites
paradox, etc. Paradoxes are arguments based on premises and reasoning that
seem well-founded, but whose conclusion leads to a contradiction. An excellent
definition is provided by Mark Sainsbury, in his book Paradoxes, published in
1995: “paradoxes are unacceptable conclusions drawn from seemingly true
premises and correct reasoning”.
I shall also present a number of arguments that are widely discussed within
contemporary philosophical literature. Such arguments are often made up of
reasoning whose premises and the deductions that accompany them seem quite
acceptable, but whose conclusion proves counterintuitive. Problems of this type
distinguish themselves from the paradoxes in that they do not truly lead to a
contradiction. Unlike the paradoxes, we do not observe in this type of argument
a contradiction per se, but only a conclusion that proves contrary to common
sense. Arguments whose conclusion appears counterintuitive are close to the
paradoxes in the sense that it is very likely that the underlying reasoning is
misleading. However, they differ from the paradoxes in the sense that one cannot
rule out at the start the possibility that it is our intuition that is at fault. In this
case, the solution to the problem posed by this type of argument has to explain
why one’s conclusion appears at first sight counterintuitive.
Lastly, I shall describe a number of problems per se that have led to recent
discussions in analytic philosophy. Among these problems based on reasoning,
some have a very ancient origin, while others have only recently been described.
Analytic philosophy is essentially characterized by a requirement for clarity
in the exposition of ideas and a marked concern for rigor at the stage of the
argument. Clarity of ideas is intended to avoid ambiguity and difficulties in the
interpretation of texts. It also allows a better critical evaluation of the ideas. This
necessity for rigor may sometimes require the use of a mathematical formalism,
which should not, however, go so far as to require advanced knowledge in
mathematics. As we can see, analytic philosophy is primarily a philosophical
style.
It is customary to oppose analytic philosophy and continental philosophy.
Continental philosophy refers to the philosophical writings of French and
German authors of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, among whom are,
without being exhaustive: Friedrich Hegel, Sören Kierkegaard, Friedrich
Nietzsche, Karl Marx, Herbert Marcuse, Martin Heidegger, Jean-Paul Sartre,
Maurice Merleau-Ponty and Michel Foucault. The writings of these philosophers
are characterized by a greater literary involvement and often a stronger political
commitment.
Analytic philosophy is sometimes associated with Anglo-Saxon countries and
continental philosophy with the European continent. Such a viewpoint is,
however, somewhat simplistic. Indeed, it is true that analytic philosophy is
currently the dominant style in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada,
Australia and New Zealand, for example. However, it is also represented in