We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
‘There’s a reason for everything.’
From here to infinity
We have probably all heard of feedback cycles, where a permissible operation can send a system into an unending sequence of cycles. Something rather like one haunts the philosophical literature on God. Its origin is the apparently unremarkable fact that every natural language contains a word or words equivalent to ‘Why?’ The fact may seem unremarkable, but combined with what looks like an equally unremarkable assumption it generates an explosive mixture. For if X is any meaningful contingent statement, the expression ‘Why (is it the case that) X?’ is a grammatically well-formed question, and given the plausible assumption that to any meaningful question there is in principle an answer, we have the loop: to any answer, say Z, you simply stick ‘Why’ in front of it and place ‘?’ after it, and off you go again. Forever, or so it seems.
To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.
Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.
Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.
