Can it be absolutely true that there are no absolute truths?

Question

Jonathan	Can it be absolutely true that there are no absolute truths? Sally: "There is no absolute truth." Bob: "So is THAT absolutely true??" (asked rhetorically) If Sally were to respond "the only absolute truth is that there is no absolute truth," that would sound like special pleading. But it also sounds like Bob is using this paradox as a red herring. Who is committing (or on the verge of committing, should their conversation play out) any logical fallacies?
	asked on Wednesday, May 18, 2016 08:49:19 AM by Jonathan
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Answers

Bo Bennett, PhD 0	The short answer is no. The longer answer: This borders on a "Yogibearra-ism" (e.g., "Always go to other people's funerals, otherwise they won't come to yours.") but known in logic as a self-defeating statement . In the movie Philomena , Steve Coogan walks out of a church service and when asked why states, "I don't believe in God, and I think he knows." These are good ways to make people laugh, but not good uses of reason. It is fallacious to make a self-defeating statement (again, unless as a statement of irony). A non-fallacious dialog: Sally: "There is no absolute truth." Bob: "So is THAT absolutely true??" (asked rhetorically) Sally: "I don't know. In my worldview, my statements are probability based; they're not based on a false sense of certainty."
	answered on Wednesday, May 18, 2016 09:30:50 AM by Bo Bennett, PhD
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