Hempel’s paradox is not an actual cognitive problem

Authors

  • Miguel López-Astorga

Keywords:

Hempel’s paradox. Mental models. Reasoning. Standard logic. Stoic logic.

Abstract

The paradox of the black ravens proposed by Carl Hempel is a problem if it is analyzed from standard logic. This is so because the equivalences in that logic can lead one to think that individuals should carry out certain actions that they do not usually do. In this paper, I show that, if we assume frameworks other than standard logic, the problem disappears, since those same actions are not expected. In particular, I use as examples two approaches: that of Stoic logic and that of the mental models theory.

Downloads

Published

2017-02-20

Issue

No. 16

Section

Artigos

License

Argumentos magazine is licensed under an International Creative Commons Attribution License.

The Magazine uses CC BY inclusion

1) The authors retain the copyright granted to the magazine or the right to initial publication, with the work regularly licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution, which allows the sharing of the work with acknowledgment of authorship and initial publication in this magazine.

2) The authors are authorized to contract additional applicable contracts, for non-exclusive distribution of the version of the work published in this journal (for example, publication in the institutional repository or as a chapter of the book), recognition of authorship and initial publication in this journal.

3) Authors are authorized and encourage to publish and distribute their work online (for example, in institutional repositories or on their personal pages) at any time before or during the editorial process, as they can generate productive changes, as well as increase the impact and reference of published work.