Glen, There is good reason to exclude the middle though. I am uncomfortable with the non-right-or-wrong options you have given. To me, it seems that an argument can only be correct if it specifies the circumstances under which it is correct (when the intended circumstances are "always", we often don't explicitly specify, but that doesn't mean the circumstances are not part of the claim). For example, even the most esoteric conclusions in Euclidean geometry are understood to be correct in a world in which Euclid's 5 axioms hold; many current Republicans argue that individual mandates are a good idea, but only when the alternative is Hillary-care, a disparaging comment about a woman only evidences discrimination in a context that lacks an (roughly) equal number of disparaging comments about men, etc.
Thus, rather than calling something "valid-in-context", why not include the context in the thing, and then just call it "valid"? It seems to me that you are merely arguing for a more nuanced understanding of the many ways in which something can be invalid. I would agree with that. Eric On Mon, Mar 26, 2012 10:52 AM, "glen e. p. ropella" <g...@tempusdictum.com> wrote: > Russell Standish wrote circa 12-03-23 10:21 PM: >> In order to persuade me that induction is invalid, > >Here's a great example of how a belief in induction allows us to think >in sloppy ways: > >http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/03/25/attorney-zimmerman-used-term-of-endearment-before-killing-trayvon-martin/ > >As usual, the question of the validity of induction is ill-formed >because it assumes the law of the excluded middle. Sentences are either >valid or invalid and not allowed to be semi-valid or valid-in-context >but invalid-out-of-context. The fact is that sometimes induction is >valid and sometimes it's not, depending on what the sentence says and >the context in which it's said. > >============================================================ >FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv >Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College >lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org > > > Eric Charles Professional Student and Assistant Professor of Psychology Penn State University Altoona, PA 16601
============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org
