Get curated editors’ picks, peeks behind the scenes, film recommendations and more.
Can we learn anything about what makes a raven by looking only at apples? The German-born logician Carl Gustav Hempel (1905-97) thought that, using the inductive logic that scientists rely on to prove or disprove hypotheses, you ought to be able to – but in such a way that clashes mightily with human intuition. This peculiar ripple in reasoning, which became known as ‘the raven paradox’ due to the example Hempel used to elucidate it, goes as follows:
1. All ravens are black
2. If something is not black it is not a raven
3. The fact that my pet raven is black supports the hypothesis that all ravens are black
4. The fact that my apple is red also supports the hypothesis that all ravens are black
The sequence appears to break down somewhere between the third and fourth claims. And yet, upon examination, inductive logic tells us that claim four does indeed follow. In this brief animation, Marc Lange, a professor of philosophy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, dissects why Hempel’s claim seems to hold to reason, even as it cuts against our intuitions in a way that seems unresolvable.
Video by Wireless Philosophy
video
Knowledge
Why it takes more than a lifetime to truly understand a single meadow
11 minutes
video
Knowledge
An Indigenous myth and a geological survey elicit two ways of knowing one place
4 minutes
video
Ecology and environmental sciences
The ancient Hawaiian myth that sparked a modern ecological breakthrough
10 minutes
video
Metaphysics
Why mathematical truths exist with or without minds to consider them
8 minutes
video
Gender
When aggression is viewed as brilliance, it hurts women in science, and science itself
5 minutes
video
Political philosophy
Is the idea that democracy always benefits society misguided, or just mathematics?
7 minutes
video
Philosophy of religion
How a devout Catholic philosopher approaches the problem of evil
8 minutes
video
Meaning and the good life
Why Aristotle believed that philosophy was humanity’s highest purpose
9 minutes
video
Logic and probability
Chew over the prisoner’s dilemma and see if you can find the rational path out
6 minutes