Re: virus: Logic
D.H.Rosdeitcher (76473.3041@compuserve.com)
Mon, 6 Oct 1997 19:54:46 -0400
David McF wrote:
> Can a logical argument say anything about reality, or is
> it (as one contributor put it recently) just "smoke and mirrors"?
> I have a few ideas, but I'd like to hear from others first.
I'd like to address a problem that has to do with logic. Logical
propositions, which are true, get used to define reality in a way that does
not make sense. For instance, I recently read an article about how the
free-market economy gets justified with a philosophy based on the following
premise:
The natural laws of supply and demand act as an invisible hand to keep the
economy in perfect equilibrium, in which products in demand naturally
influence the supply and vice versa.
The free-market economic philosophy gets based on that assumption, but
in the real world, supply and demand depend mainly on the ideas of the
buyers and sellers--their theories or subjective views about the economy,
which is different than the economy in an objective sense, meaning, "as it
really is". The point is that a logically truth gets used to define an
aspect of reality and that aspect of reality seems unmovable true and
entire conclusions get drawn. Another example: Logical truths like
"existence exists" or "I am conscious" get used to say something about the
nature of reality, when they have nothing really to do with reality. There
seems to be some confusion about using logic to define reality.
--David R.