Toolbox – Contradiction Studies #2 in the winter term 2025/26
Literature:
Priest, Graham. 1998. What is so bad About Contradictions? The Journal of Philosophy 95(8). 410–426.
paradox
“The basis of law is not an idea as a systematic unified principle but a paradox.”
Andreas Fischer-Lescano
every day
“Living in contradictions is what we experience every day. Why do we know so little about it?”
Gisela Febel
problem to be solved
“Contradiction is not primarily a problem to be solved but a motor we cannot do without.”
Martin Nonhoff
hierarchy of norms
“If social contradictions are reflected in law, law cannot form a hierarchy of norms free of contradictions.”
Andreas Fischer-Lescano
idea of democratic critique
“If you think that acts of contradicting someone always need to point to better solutions, you haven’t really understood the idea of democratic critique.”
Martin Nonhoff