Single Idea 16489

[catalogued under 5. Theory of Logic / E. Structures of Logic / 2. Logical Connectives / c. not]

Full Idea

Imagine a person who knew everything that can be stated without using the word 'not' or some equivalent; would such a person know the whole course of nature, or would he not?

Gist of Idea

Is it possible to state every possible truth about the whole course of nature without using 'not'?

Source

Bertrand Russell (Human Knowledge: its scope and limits [1948], 9)

Book Reference

Russell,Bertrand: 'Human Knowledge' [Routledge 2009], p.111


A Reaction

Nowadays we might express Russell's thought as 'Does God need the word 'not'?'. Russell's thesis is that such words concern psychology, and not physics. God would need 'not' to describe how human minds work.

Related Idea

Idea 16488 It is hard to explain how a sentence like 'it is not raining' can be found true by observation [Russell]