
The Philosopher's Arms Sorites' Heap
Aug 16, 2013
James Nielsen, a lawyer who drafts government bills and wrestles with real-world cutoffs. Joseph Melia, a philosopher tracing the sorites paradox and debates over vagueness. They explore baldness and heap puzzles, legal definitions like lap-dancing and raves, age cutoffs in law, and contrasts between precision, fuzzy logic, and ordinary language.
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Sorites Shows Vague Terms Create Logical Paradoxes
- The Sorites paradox exposes that plausible premises plus a plausible inference can produce absurd conclusions about vague terms like heap or bald.
- Joseph Melia explains the classic chain: one grain/hair added or removed seems irrelevant but iterated yields paradoxical denial of heaps/baldness.
Vagueness Can Be More Informative Than Precision
- Later Wittgenstein values ordinary vague language for everyday use and warns against forcing artificial precision.
- He argued vague answers (e.g. "about 50 or 60") can be more informative than overly precise but unhelpful numbers.
How Lawmakers Forced Vagueness Into Precise Rules
- James Nielsen recounts drafting 2009 lap-dancing rules and choosing arbitrary precise criteria to avoid legal uncertainty.
- They listed exposed body parts so venues could clearly know when a special sex establishment licence was required.


