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Old 24-Jul-2004, 10:48
Francois Francois is offline
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So the "it's arbitrary" approach is all we have?
Languages are not maths :|

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Not here though:

Psychiatrist to patient: If you are Napolean, then I am Caesar, which I'm not, am I?
Yes, I believe it's a similar idea, though the purpose is different. Both examples are using absurd reasoning. In the first one, this is in a sarcastic way, and in the second one, that is to make a genuine point to a patient. Both says "Ok, let's suppose X is true, then it leads to Y, which is clearly wrong, so X is wrong too". Whether "X => Y" is true is another debate, but you get the point.

FRC
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