then why is it apparently ok to present as fact a negative if it can't be validated?
2006-10-15 11:52:47 · 9 answers · asked by Anonymous in Arts & Humanities ➔ Philosophy
Just for the heck of it!
2006-10-15 11:54:35 · answer #1 · answered by G 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Take a deep breath...No offense.
An analogy.
GOD, cannot be proven,,,at least not by the living. GOD might be TRUTH to many, but GOD cannot strictly be proven as FACT,,,and to most,,is NOT a negative.
Beyond that NEGATIVE is often subjective and relative, to those who may be ignorant, or still exploring in questioning whether or not a negative is so. That also applies to Positives.
Also perhaps you should consider that anything stated, theoretically, can be believed, negative or not.
Steven Wolf
2006-10-15 18:58:02 · answer #2 · answered by DIY Doc 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You can't "prove" an affirmative, either. Strictly speaking, nothing is ever certain. A "fact" is just something that a large number of people feel reasonably certain about in an empirical sense. So although you can't definitively prove statements like "there are no antelope on the sun," you can nevertheless have a degree of certainty about them that warrants their classification as fact.
2006-10-15 19:01:38 · answer #3 · answered by Drew 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Negation is the presentation of negatives (not included) to arrive to positive (included) decision. Of course you can affirm a negative fact.
2006-10-15 23:03:51 · answer #4 · answered by ol's one 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
What are you talking about?
SURE you can disprove a negative.
For example: I am about to disprove a NEGATIVE claim: "There is NO money in my wallet".
I open my wallet and see 20$ -- There you have it -- i have just disproved a negative.
Do i get a Nobel prize now?
2006-10-15 19:05:15 · answer #5 · answered by hq3 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
if it's a fact of negativity, thus it's validated. who says only truth is validated? e.g. man can't fly -negative... but in fact validated. the earth is round? - negative... but validated. we are mere dusts - negative, but validated too...
2006-10-15 21:06:01 · answer #6 · answered by VeRDuGo 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Can you prove that?
I think what he means, pardon me if I'm wrong, is that if someone accuses you of something, how can you prove it isn't true?
It's like saying you're guilty until you can prove you're innocent.
This happens a lot in politics when a candidate accuses his opponent of something. Denial just doesn't work.
2006-10-15 20:55:24 · answer #7 · answered by The Gadfly 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
negate a negative, then u'll come up with a positive. hmm.. looks like it
2006-10-16 00:04:14 · answer #8 · answered by The Lioness 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
http://www.skepticwiki.org/wiki/index.php/%22You_Can't_Prove_a_Negative%22
2006-10-15 19:54:53 · answer #9 · answered by DREAMER 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋