Dear Klaus,
You are probably seeking Aristotle's principle of
non-contradiction. It appears somewhere in The
Organon, but I am not sure where. He also defends
the law in The Metaphysics.
The principle is a rule of Aristotelian logic stating
that something cannot both be and not be at the
same time in the same respect.
Rather than stating that someone CAN not contradict
himself, Aristotle states that we MAY or SHOULD
not contradict ourselves if our statements are to
be meaningful or logical.
Together with the law of identity and the law of
the excluded middle, the law of non-contradiction
constitutes the laws of thought that many logicians
and philosophers define as the foundation of valid
logical inference. (I'm not defending every element
of this statement, but answering your question in
terms of Aristotelian logic. For example, the challenge
that fuzzy logic provides to the law of the excluded
middle accounts for the furor that fuzzy logic
occasions in some circles. Similarly, Korzbsky's
non-Aristotelian logics also created some fuss on
similar principles.)
If I can locate my Organon or my Metaphysics
in the dramatically non-excluded middle of my
study, I will report on the exact location of
Aristotle's discourses on these topics.
Yours,
Ken
--
Klaus Krippendorff wrote,
"along this thread, aristotle is supposed to have put forth a law saying that
you can't contradict yourself. i consider this to be correct but wonder if
anyone knows the name of that law or has a reference for me to check this
out."
--
--
Ken Friedman, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Leadership and Strategic Design
Department of Leadership and Organization
Norwegian School of Management
Visiting Professor
Advanced Research Institute
School of Art and Design
Staffordshire University
|