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Usenet Posted 16 years ago
Usage
What is a tautology?
What is a tautology?
Yes, I know I can look it up, but my question goes beyond what the dictionary says.
Decades ago I looked it up and the dictionary said "A clear and obvious truth". Those 5 words with nothing else iirc.
Now that seems to almost meet the logical definitions below, but not quite. It doesn't meet the requirement below that the statment be a compound form, such as "A or not A". How did this happen to me? Does anyone remember the definition I remember.
Tautology
1. needless repetition of an idea, esp. in words other thanthose of the immediate context, without imparting additional force or clearness, as in ?widow woman.?
2. an instance of such repetition.
3. Logic.a. a compound propositional form all of whose instances are true, as ?A or not A.?
b. an instance of such a form, as ?This candidate will win or will not win.?
RHD
3. 1. Needless repetition of the same sense in different words;redundancy.
2. An instance of such repetition.
4. Logic An empty or vacuous statement composed of simplerstatements in a fashion that makes it logically true whether the simpler statements are factually true or false; for example, the statement Either it will rain tomorrow or it will not rain tomorrow. AHD4
Posters should say where they live, and for which area they are asking questions. I was born and then lived in Western Pa. 10 years
Indianapolis 7 years
Chicago 6 years
Brooklyn, NY 12 years
Baltimore 26 years
Yes, I know I can look it up, but my question goes beyond what the dictionary says.
Decades ago I looked it up and the dictionary said "A clear and obvious truth". Those 5 words with nothing else iirc.
Now that seems to almost meet the logical definitions below, but not quite. It doesn't meet the requirement below that the statment be a compound form, such as "A or not A". How did this happen to me? Does anyone remember the definition I remember.
Tautology
1. needless repetition of an idea, esp. in words other thanthose of the immediate context, without imparting additional force or clearness, as in ?widow woman.?
2. an instance of such repetition.
3. Logic.a. a compound propositional form all of whose instances are true, as ?A or not A.?
b. an instance of such a form, as ?This candidate will win or will not win.?
RHD
3. 1. Needless repetition of the same sense in different words;redundancy.
2. An instance of such repetition.
4. Logic An empty or vacuous statement composed of simplerstatements in a fashion that makes it logically true whether the simpler statements are factually true or false; for example, the statement Either it will rain tomorrow or it will not rain tomorrow. AHD4
Posters should say where they live, and for which area they are asking questions. I was born and then lived in Western Pa. 10 years
Indianapolis 7 years
Chicago 6 years
Brooklyn, NY 12 years
Baltimore 26 years
Top answer
[nq:1]What is a tautology? Yes, I know I can look it up, but my question goes beyond what the dictionary ... remember.
- [nq:1]What is a tautology?
- Yes, I know I can look it up, but my question goes beyond what the dictionary ...
- remember.
- Tautology 3.
- 1.
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2 Answers
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[nq:1]What is a tautology? Yes, I know I can look it up, but my question goes beyond what the dictionary ... remember. Tautology 3. 1. Needless repetition of the same sense in different words; redundancy. 2. An instance of such repetition.[/nq]
That, to me, is the most familiar sense.
OneLook.com gives:
Quick definitions (tautology)
noun: useless repetition ("To say that something
That, to me, is the most familiar sense.
OneLook.com gives:
Quick definitions (tautology)
noun: useless repetition ("To say that something
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[nq:1]What is a tautology?[/nq]
The word has two related senses, one general and one particular to logic.
In the general sense, it is basically redundancy, as in the examples you adduced.
In the more exacting sense used in formal logic, it is a statement so cast that it is true whether or not its constituent propositions are true that is, that is a "truth" only in the sense that i
The word has two related senses, one general and one particular to logic.
In the general sense, it is basically redundancy, as in the examples you adduced.
In the more exacting sense used in formal logic, it is a statement so cast that it is true whether or not its constituent propositions are true that is, that is a "truth" only in the sense that i
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