A performative contradiction (German: performativer Widerspruch) arises when the making of an utterance rests on necessary presuppositions that contradict the proposition asserted in the utterance.[1]
The term was coined by Jürgen Habermas and Karl-Otto Apel, who attribute the first elaboration of the concept to Jaakko Hintikka, in his analysis of Descartes' cogito ergo sum argument.[1][2] Hintikka concluding that cogito ergo sum relies on performance rather than logical inference.[3]
Habermas claims that post-modernism's epistemological relativism suffers from a performative contradiction. Hans-Hermann Hoppe claims in his theory of discourse ethics that arguing against self-ownership results in a performative contradiction.[4]
See also
edit- Liar paradox
- Performative utterance
- Self-refuting idea
- Kettle logic – Using inconsistent arguments
References
edit- ^ a b Haberman, Jürgen (1990). Moral Consciousness and Communicative Action. Cambridge: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. p. 80. ISBN 978-0-7456-11044.
- ^ Apel, Karl-Otto (1975). "The problem of philosophical fundamental-grounding in light of a transcendental pragmatic of language". Man and World. 8 (3): 239–275. doi:10.1007/BF01255646. S2CID 144951196.
- ^ Hintikka, Jaakko (1962). "Cogito, Ergo Sum: Inference or Performance?". The Philosophical Review. 71 (1): 3–32. doi:10.2307/2183678. JSTOR 2183678.
- ^ Hoppe, Hans-Hermann (September 1988). "The Ultimate Justification of Private Property" (PDF). Liberty. 1: 20.
Further reading
edit- Habermas, Jürgen (1990). "Discourse Ethics: Notes on a Program of Philosophical Justification". In Habermas (ed.). Moral Consciousness and Communicative Action. trans. C. Lenhardt and S.W. Nicholsen. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press.
- Hoppe, Hans-Hermann. "On the Ultimate Justification of the Ethics of Private Property". The Economics and Ethics of Private Property.
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