Hegel’s Interpretation of the Sorites

Abstract

ABSTRACT Hegel’s approach to soritical arguments (as well as to paradoxes in general) can be read as a kind of conjunctive paraconsistency: the ‘explosive’ effect of contradictions is avoided by assuming ‘the unity of the opposites’, so that contradictory conjunctions are not simplifiable. The paper reconsiders what Hegel says about the Sorites and justifies the conjunctive interpretation. The first section introduces the analysis, presenting the role of the Einheit Entgegengesetzter for contemporary theories of paradoxes. In the second section, the focus is on Hegel’s interpretation of the Sorites. The third section briefly considers some contemporary accounts of vagueness in the light of Hegel’s view so reconstructed. The last section summarizes the main results and explores some ideas about how to formalize a Hegel-inspired conjunctive view.