Table Of ContentThere Are Two Errors in the the Title of This Book :
title: A Sourcebook of Philosophical Puzzles, Problems,
and Paradoxes
author: Martin, Robert M.
publisher: Broadview Press
isbn10 | asin: 0921149980
print isbn13: 9780921149989
ebook isbn13: 9780585279589
language: English
subject Paradoxes, Semantics (Philosophy) , Reasoning.
publication date: 1992
lcc: P325.M37 1992eb
ddc: 401/.43
subject: Paradoxes, Semantics (Philosophy) , Reasoning.
Page iii
There Are Two Errors in the the Title of This Book
A Sourcebook of Philosophical Puzzles, Problems, and Paradoxes
Robert M. Martin
Page iv
© 1992 broadview press
Reprinted 1995, 1997, 1998
All rights reserved. The use of any part of this publication reproduced, transmitted in any
form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, or
stored in a retrieval system, without prior written consent of the publisher or in the case
of photocopying, a licence from CANCOPY (Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency) 6
Adelaide Street East, Suite 900, Toronto, Ontario M5C 1H6 is an infringement of the
copyright law.
Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data
Martin, Robert, M.
There are two errors in the the title of this book: a source-book of
philosophical puzzles, problems, and paradoxes
ISBN 0-921149-98-0
1. Paradoxes. 2. Puzzles.
I. Title.
BC199.P2M37 1992 165 C92-094870-7
Broadview Press
Post Office Box 1243, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada K9J 7H5
in the United States of America:
3576 California Road, Orchard Park, NY 14127
in the United Kingdom: B.R.A.D. Book Representation & Distribution Ltd.,
244A, London Road, Hadleigh, Essex. SS7 2DE
Broadview Press gratefully acknowledges the support of the Canada Council, the Ontario
Arts Council, and the Ministry of Canadian Heritage.
PRINTED IN CANADA
Page v
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements xiii
About this Book xv
Chapter I: Differences that Make No Difference
1. William James and the Squirrel 1
The Unanswerable 3
2. When Everything Gets Bigger 4
The Right-Handed Universe 4
3. Mildred's Peculiar Sensations 5
Another Inversion in Mildred 6
4. A World of Fake Antiques 6
5. The Brain in the Vat 8
6. It's Practically True 9
Into the Mainstream of Philosophy 10
Chapter II: God
1. The Practical Meaning of Religious Talk 12
One Hell of a Rainstorm 13
2. God's Difficulties 14
God the Counterfeiter 14
A Proof that Everything Is Hunky-Dory 16
God Made Me Do It 17
3. How There Got to Be Only One God 17
4. Proving the Existence of God 17
The Miracle on the Expressway 19
God and Wales 19
5. Why Believing In God Is a Good Bet 20
Why Believing in God Is Not a Good Bet 21
Into the Mainstream of Philosophy 22
Chapter III: Taking Chances
1. Some Probable Facts 24
Rosencrantz Flips a Coin 24
Another Surprising Sequence 25
You're on a Roll! 25
Your Extraordinary Ancestors 26
How Many Ancestors Do You Have? 26
The Miracle of You 27
Page vi
2. One-third of Two 28
3. Happy Birthday Dear You-Two 28
4. The Trouble with Taxis 29
5. Do Coins Obey the Law? 30
Why It's Not Certain that You'll Be in a Plane Crash 30
A Frequent Flier Bonus 31
Into the Mainstream of Philosophy 33
Chapter IV: Making Choices
1. The One-and-a-Half Million Dollar Life 34
2. Some Decision Puzzles 36
The Elusive Wine-Bottle 36
The Proof that Many People Are Crazy or Stupid 37
3. The General Makes Some Bad Choices 39
4. A Good Lottery Strategy 40
5. How to Go Home a Winner 41
6. Getting Monty's Goat 42
7. Voting Problems 44
Why You Shouldn't Vote 44
How Not to Choose a Movie 44
How to Win at Dice 46
Rock, Scissors, Paper 48
Into the Mainstream of Philosophy 49
Chapter V: Logic
1. Some Mistakes about Logical Words 50
Dilemmas 50
The Exception that Doesn't Prove the Rule 50
Begging the Question 51
2. Circular Reasoning 52
The Divine Circle 52
The Marvellous Suspension Bridge 52
3. The Illogic of English 53
"Or" Confusions 53
"The" Confusions 54
The Messy Counterfactual 54
4. The Unspoken Implication 55
It Never Turns Blue Either 55
Has the Present King of France Stopped Robbing
56
Banks?
5. Much Ado about Nothing 57
Into the Mainstream of Philosophy 58
Chapter VI: More Logic
1. Impossible Surprises 60
The Surprise Quiz that Never Happens 60
Page vii
The Surprising Meatloaf 61
Why All Numbers Are Interesting 61
2. Why Everybody Is Poor 62
3. Paradoxes Of Self-Reference 63
The Non-Existent Barber 63
The Trouble with Adjectives 64
The Troublesome Statement in the Box 64
On Being a Member of Yourself 65
Gödel's Proof 66
This Is Not the Title of This Item 67
Lawyers Are Like That 68
4. Proving That 2 = 1 69
5. Zeno's Paradoxes 70
The Speedy Tortoise 70
The Arrow that Never Reaches the Target 70
Into the Mainstream of Philosophy 71
Chapter VII: Belief, Logic, and Intentions
1. Believing the Implications 72
Proving that Archibald Is in the Pub 73
The Lottery Nobody Wins 74
Be Careful What You Believe 75
Knowing Nothing about Birds 76
The Hobgoblin of Little Minds 77
You'll Believe Just Anything 78
2. I Just Can't Believe That 79
3. Descartes' Thought 81
4. Self-Fulfilling and Self-Defeating Beliefs 81
The Power of Positive Thinking 81
How to Fail at Baseball 82
The Pursuit of Happiness 83
Fooling Yourself 83
Sorry, I'm Not Free Right Now 84
5. Mental Impotence 84
Believe or I'll Shoot! 84
How to Intend to Kick Your Cat 85
Into the Mainstream of Philosophy 86
Chapter VIII: Good and Bad Reasoning
1. Thought-Traps For the Unwary 88
The Price of a Cork 88
Splitting Up the Diamonds 89
Nobody Works at All 90
More Math Troubles 90
His Father's Son 90
Page viii
The Card Mistake 91
2. The Reasoning Of Other Cultures and Past Cultures 93
Azande Witches 93
Camels in Germany 94
If We Had Three Nostrils, Would There Be Eight
95
Planets?
Nobody Could Be That Wrong 96
3. Thinking In Grooves 98
The Boy with Two Fathers 98
Sensitive New-Age Thought 98
The the Title of This Book 100
Smashing a Fly 101
Into the Mainstream of Philosophy 102
Chapter IX: Learning From Experience
1. Induction By Enumeration 104
What Pink Socks Tell You about Ravens 104
Something Even Worse about Pink Socks 105
2. The Inductive Circle 106
How Long Will This Keep Going On? 106
The Inevitability of Scientific Error: Another Circle 107
3. The Gruesome Problem 108
4. Cause and Effect 110
Cause and Correlation 110
The Tickle Defense 111
Into the Mainstream of Philosophy 112
Chapter X: Knowing Without Experience
