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Pages:
2 pages/β‰ˆ550 words
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Style:
APA
Subject:
Social Sciences
Type:
Essay
Language:
English (U.S.)
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Topic:

Sorites Paradox: Critique on the New General Principle

Essay Instructions:

This is a short and very incomplete guide to providing a useful (and high quality) critique to your classmates. Do not infer that you only need to do one of the things listed here.
1) Do the paper offer an objection to the Sorites arguments that clearly shows a specific flaw in this kind of argument.
2) Does this objection include a clearly articulated general principle? (This sentence might start out something like this: “All vague claims …” or “Vague claims never …")
3) Does the paper explain how this objection applies equally well to all 4 versions of the Sorites paradox listed on the assignment?
4) If the paper uses any of the standard approaches to solving the paradox, then are these clearly explained?
5) Point out anything that is: a misunderstanding of the problem, an implausible assertion, an unreasonable inference, or anything that is simply overly complex or unclear.
6) Does the paper go on to make significant and interesting claims that go beyond the basic analysis?
7) Does the paper spend considerable time (at least a paragraph) considering at least one strong objection to the central argument that the paper is endorsing?
8) If the answer to 7 is “yes”, then does it offer a plausible response to this the most persuasive objection?
9) If the resolution feels just unsatisfying, try to explain why.

Essay Sample Content Preview:

Sorites Paradox: Critique on the New General Principle
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The general principle of the Sorites Paradox states that, "If two things are perceptually indistinguishable, then any vague predicate which applies to one to the other." As the definition of vagueness suggest, a certain phenomenon is vague if it is indefinite and indistinguishable. The problem connected with this generalization involves the terms that illustrates vagueness. Thus the solutions needed ways on handling these vague terms such as, “heap”, therefore vague terms are subjective. A solution was made to try and solve the sorites paradox that serves to object and adjusts the premises of the general principle to correctly accommodate all situations. This new general principle states that, "If two things are perceptually indistinguishable but objectively different, then any vague predicate which might apply to one may also apply to the other, but to a lesser degree." This new generalization tries to correct the objective flaw in the previous general principle as it suggest that if a predicate applies to one should apply to another because a predicate as "two things can have different predicates." However, this new generalization promotes some unsatisfying resolutions that may not further solve the original generalization. This paper, then, aims to critique and clarify any resolution made in the new generalization that feels unsatisfying.
The new general principle starts by limiting the concepts of vagueness through sequential exposure and not through definitions. For example, the heap of 10,000 grains of sand is indistinguishable from a heap with 9,999 grains of sand; but, according to the new principle, “removing enough grains of sands will change how the heap is perceived.” There is no exact measurement to distinguish a heap of sand. The removal of one grain shows no distinguishable difference but it is still one grain of sand less making it a heap to a small degree compared to the previous heap. However, this new principle, according to the paper, takes into account that this new ...
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