Could you give an example? I would have thought this happens with Not(opposite(X)); for example, “I don’t hate you” is different than “I love you”, and in fact implies that I don’t. But I would have thought “opposite” was symmetric, so opposite(opposite(X)) = X.
Well, OK. So suppose (to stick with your example) I love you, and I want to deceive you about it by expressing the opposite of what I feel. So what do I say?
You seem to take for granted that opposite(“I love you”) = “I hate you.” And not, for example, “I am indifferent to you.” Or “You disgust me.” Or various other assertions. And, sure, if “I love you” has a single, unambiguous opposite, and the opposite also has a single, unambiguous opposite, then my statement is false. But it’s not clear to me that this is true.
If I end up saying “I’m indifferent to you” and you decide to believe the opposite of that… well, what do you believe?
Of course, simply negating the truth (“I don’t love you”) is unambiguously arrived at, and can be thought of as an opposite… though in practice, that’s often not what I actually do when I want to deceive someone, unless I’ve been specifically accused of the truth. (“We’re not giant purple tubes from outer space!”)
Could you give an example? I would have thought this happens with Not(opposite(X)); for example, “I don’t hate you” is different than “I love you”, and in fact implies that I don’t. But I would have thought “opposite” was symmetric, so opposite(opposite(X)) = X.
Well, OK. So suppose (to stick with your example) I love you, and I want to deceive you about it by expressing the opposite of what I feel. So what do I say?
You seem to take for granted that opposite(“I love you”) = “I hate you.” And not, for example, “I am indifferent to you.” Or “You disgust me.” Or various other assertions. And, sure, if “I love you” has a single, unambiguous opposite, and the opposite also has a single, unambiguous opposite, then my statement is false. But it’s not clear to me that this is true.
If I end up saying “I’m indifferent to you” and you decide to believe the opposite of that… well, what do you believe?
Of course, simply negating the truth (“I don’t love you”) is unambiguously arrived at, and can be thought of as an opposite… though in practice, that’s often not what I actually do when I want to deceive someone, unless I’ve been specifically accused of the truth. (“We’re not giant purple tubes from outer space!”)