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10121 | Contradiction is not a sign of falsity, nor lack of contradiction a sign of truth |
Full Idea: Contradiction is not a sign of falsity, nor the lack of contradiction a sign of truth. | |||
From: Blaise Pascal (works [1660]), quoted by A.George / D.J.Velleman - Philosophies of Mathematics Ch.6 | |||
A reaction: [Quoted in Auden and Kronenberger's Book of Aphorisms] Presumably we would now say that contradiction is a purely formal, syntactic notion, and not a semantic one. If you hit a contradiction, something has certainly gone wrong. |