Re:Bertrand Russell: In Praise of Idleness (1932)
by kasperbn on Tuesday October 08, 2013 @04:32PM
(#6517640)
It really depends on what is meant by "objectively true or false".
You're right that some statements within a formal system are true or false.
However, the theorem does imply that the behavior of the "world out there" (and any explanation of it) is either contradictory or not following a fixed set of rules.
So yes, we can state something to be "objectively" true or false but only if we're willing to use a contradictory explanation - which we usually are in the name of usefulness, not in the name of "absolute objective truth".
You're right that some statements within a formal system are true or false.
However, the theorem does imply that the behavior of the "world out there" (and any explanation of it) is either contradictory or not following a fixed set of rules.
So yes, we can state something to be "objectively" true or false but only if we're willing to use a contradictory explanation - which we usually are in the name of usefulness, not in the name of "absolute objective truth".