Evidence · Case 07 · Philosophy
Non-classical logic, the honest limit
One exhibit from the free evidence repository at apologetics.pro.
Intuitionist logic, developed by mathematicians in the early 1900s, rejects the unrestricted law of excluded middle. Paraconsistent logic and the view called dialetheism go further and allow that some special contradictions may be true. These are technical, narrow systems built for specific problems, and even their defenders leave the law of identity largely alone. None of this touches ordinary, everyday reasoning. It just means the laws of logic are foundational to normal thought, not that they have never been questioned.
Sources
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, “Dialetheism,”
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, “Intuitionistic Logic,”
Objections & responses
- You admit paraconsistent logic and dialetheism exist, and some Eastern philosophies reject the excluded middle in religious contexts. So when non-contradiction is used against “all religions are true,” can’t a Buddhist simply decline the premise?
A sophisticated Buddhist or Hindu interlocutor might make this move, and it deserves an answer. Dialetheists themselves hold that true contradictions are rare and isolated (the liar paradox, certain boundary cases), and no dialetheist claims that ultimate reality is personal and ultimate reality is impersonal can both be true. Anyone who does claim that has abandoned the possibility of saying anything false about religion, including the claim that Christianity is wrong. The move buys nothing for the pluralist that it does not also cost.