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Single Idea 4638

[from 'The Philosopher's Toolkit' by J Baggini / PS Fosl, in 5. Theory of Logic / D. Assumptions for Logic / 1. Bivalence ]

Full Idea

Forcing everything into the straightjacket of bivalence seriously distorts the world. The problem is most acute in the case of vague concepts, such as thinness. It is not straightforwardly true or false that a person is thin.

Gist of Idea

The principle of bivalence distorts reality, as when claiming that a person is or is not 'thin'

Source

J Baggini / PS Fosl (The Philosopher's Toolkit [2003], §3.03)

Book Reference

Baggini,J and Fosl,P.S.: 'The Philosopher's Toolkit' [Blackwells 2003], p.71


A Reaction

Can't argue with that. Can we divide all our concepts into either bivalent or vague? Presumably both propositions and concepts could be bivalent.