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
Biography and memoir
The unique life philosophy of Abdi, born in Somalia, living in the Netherlands
29 minutes
video
Ethics
For Iris Murdoch, selfishness is a fault that can be solved by reframing the world
6 minutes
video
Death
A hunter’s lyrical reflection on the humbling business of being mortal
6 minutes
video
Love and friendship
After his son’s terrorist attack, Azdyne seeks healing – and his granddaughter
25 minutes
video
Art
More than breathtaking, ‘The Birth of Venus’ signalled an aesthetic revolution
19 minutes
video
Values and beliefs
A Zen Buddhist priest voices the deep matters he usually ponders in silence
5 minutes
video
Thinkers and theories
‘My art is oratory, Socrates.’ An ancient warning on the power and peril of rhetoric
4 minutes
video
Meaning and the good life
Why strive? Stephen Fry reads Nick Cave’s letter on the threat of computed creativity
5 minutes
video
Human rights and justice
‘I know that change is possible’ – a Deaf prison chaplain’s gospel of hope
18 minutes