Single Idea 1312

[catalogued under 5. Theory of Logic / D. Assumptions for Logic / 2. Excluded Middle]

Full Idea

The remark of Heraclitus that all things are and are not effectively renders all assertions true, and that of Anaxagoras that there is an intermediary between assertion and negation makes all assertions false.

Gist of Idea

If everything is and isn't then everything is true, and a midway between true and false makes everything false

Source

comment on Heraclitus (fragments/reports [c.500 BCE]) by Aristotle - Metaphysics 1012a

Book Reference

Aristotle: 'Metaphysics', ed/tr. Lawson-Tancred,Hugh [Penguin 1998], p.108


A Reaction

Compare Idea 416. Heraclitus is discussing truth-value 'gluts', as in paraconsistent logic, and Anaxagoras is discussing truth-value 'gaps', as in three-valued Kleene logic.

Related Idea

Idea 416 Beautiful harmony comes from things that are in opposition to one another [Heraclitus]