Chapter 4: Let’s be reasonable: Logic (November 24, 2019)

The basic and most fundamental law of logic: the law of non-contradiction, which states that a thing cannot be and not be in the same way and at the same time. After all, I could look at a piece of paper folded like a chair and say, “That chair is not a chair,” but what I really mean is that the piece of paper shaped like a chair is not a chair that you can sit in. The sentence, “that chair is not a chair,” uses the word “chair” in two different ways. And since we have already made sense of the way things change, then we know that a piece of wood can be a tree tomorrow and then a table the next day. It is not a contradiction to point to a collection of matter and say that it was not a statue a month ago and it is a statue today. “Statue” and “not-statue” refer to two different times. So, the full law of non-contradiction says that a thing cannot be and not be in the same way and at the same time.