[Guest]

Not sure if it is a "paradox" but my teacher brought a wooden chair to out class room and instructed us to "Prove to me that this chair exists"

How would one go about proving this chairs existance?

[MissKitten]

you could say something like:

i can come and sit in this chair and do a number of things to this chair, therefore proving it exists. unless i do not exist, in which case, this chair does not exist either. But as i can do a number of things to myself such as hurt myself, do my homework, etc. and other people can do things to me such as hurt me, drive me to school, etc. i exist as well. unless nothing in this universe exists in which case there is no counterexample to prove we exist. but as i can see that we all can see ourselves and each other, and can do a number of things to each other such as fight, have fun, etc. i am confident when i say that we all exist, therefore proving that i exist, and in turn proving that this chair exists.

I am sorry if this is confusing, i am not very good at the whole "paradox" thing, or at explaining things.

Edited April 26, 2010 by MissKitten

[Guest]

you could say something like:

i can come and sit in this chair and do a number of things to this chair, therefore proving it exists. unless i do not exist, in which case, this chair does not exist either. But as i can do a number of things to myself such as hurt myself, do my homework, etc. and other people can do things to me such as hurt me, drive me to school, etc. i exist as well. unless nothing in this universe exists in which case there is no counterexample to prove we exist. but as i can see that we all can see ourselves and each other, and can do a number of things to each other such as fight, have fun, etc. i am confident when i say that we all exist, therefore proving that i exist, and in turn proving that this chair exists.

I am sorry if this is confusing, i am not very good at the whole "paradox" thing, or at explaining things.

Makes sence, nice job

[Guest]

as misskitten pointed out, unless you want to argue the matrix scenario, which there is no way to prove or disprove, by the fact you can interact with the chair proves its existence.

p.s. as a funny joke, you could say "what chair?"

[Guest]

Pick up the chair and smash it on his head, when your teacher starts crying in pain tell him/her that the pain that the chair has caused is inarguable proof that it exists...

[Guest]

Pick up the chair and smash it on his head, when your teacher starts crying in pain tell him/her that the pain that the chair has caused is inarguable proof that it exists...

Not sure he'd appreciate having a chair smashed to his head...

[Guest]

as misskitten pointed out, unless you want to argue the matrix scenario, which there is no way to prove or disprove, by the fact you can interact with the chair proves its existence.

p.s. as a funny joke, you could say "what chair?"

One kid did actually say that I just LOL'd

[Guest]

I would say, "If this chair did not exist, I would not be answering this question."

[Guest]

The teacher was making a massive set of unsupportable assumptions. When he pointed to the object and called it a chair, did he precisely define the boundaries delimiting the object? What if he was a 'magician' and had conjured a holographic projection? Was he speaking to a class whose members all had a pre-established conception of how to define a chair, or was he seeking to redefine what "chair" means? What did he mean by "exist"? By the time the sound of his voice reached the listener, did it still exist? We sit here on this forum with only the image of an abstract object in our minds. Does that exist?

Finally, go up to that chair and smash it into toothpicks. Pick your teeth with one. Did the toothpick exist when it was a chair? Now think about all the potential objects you could have made from the chair but didn't. Do they exist? Did the chair exist when it was a tree? A seed? Dust from an exploding supernova before planet earth formed?

Edited June 9, 2010 by seeksit

[Guest]

I would define existence(see wikipedia), or ask him(teacher) to define it for me... Then I would kindly ask the teacher to sit on it. If he falls or he doesn't, the answer is there now.

[Guest]

You could say something like this:

You brought the chair into the room. You called it a chair. You certainly must believe it exists.

[Guest]

ask your teacher to pick out something that he thinks exist in the classroom. once he does that, you take the chair and smash whatever he picked to pieces.

[bonanova]

The question presupposes the chair's existence; it couldn't be asked in an empty room.

So the response "What chair?" seems best.

What can the teacher say -- "Oh, I'm sorry, I guess there is no chair here to discuss."?

He must respond "This chair." And those words [re]affirm its existence.

[Guest]

Not sure if it is a "paradox" but my teacher brought a wooden chair to out class room and instructed us to "Prove to me that this chair exists"

How would one go about proving this chairs existance?

This thing is something to do with Ancient Greek Philosofist like "ΠΛΑΤΩΝ"(i dont know how his name is in english) and about his theory "ΕΙΝΑΙ ΚΑΙ ΦΕΝΕΣΘΑΙ" copy and paste it and find more about this theory in google.

now PLATON supported thet the real world is fake! everything we touch and feel is not real.The real world is the world we can imagin his excistance. PLATON belive thats the senses can not be accepted as a way to configure about the truthness of the world!!!! quite comlicated doesn't it!

PLEASE SEARCH ABOUT ANCIENT GREEK PHILOSOFISTS!!! YOU WILL DISCOVER THINGS THAT ARE SAID NOW AND WE THING ABOUT THEM LIKE SOMETHING NEW. THE ATOM WAS MENSIONED

FIRST TIME IN ANCIENT GREECE.

[phaze]

No need to answer, the teacher does not exist