You arrive at an island where only knights and knaves live. Knights always tell the truth, knaves always lie. You meet two inhabitants named Zoey and Mel. Zoey tells you,"at least one of us is a knight". Mel says, "at least one of us is a knight". Can you determine who is a knight and who is a knave?..............HELP ME! I just started this philosophy class and I am not good with stuff like this....this is all the question said and I just want people's ideas on this, thanks!
2007-01-14 05:29:19 · 14 answers · asked by Anonymous in Arts & Humanities ➔ Philosophy
Oh, well I also thought that....because Zoey is pretty much a female name, Zoey is definately not a knight...as for Mel....it could be short for a female name, or could be a male....if it is male, and the question is AT LEAST....then couldn't he be the knight? yet again, if Zoey is a lying knave then I guess it would be that they are both knaves...errr, it depends if you take the gender bias too...theres too many ways to think about this!!!
2007-01-14 06:50:21 · update #1
The question is....
If I ask the other person who the knight is what will he say.
Take the opposite answer to be the right answer
2007-01-17 18:19:58 · answer #1 · answered by tillermantony 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They are either knights or knaves. They can't be a knight and a knave, because the Knave's lie negates the Knight's truth and vice versa (the Knight's truth negates the Knave's lie). Why is that?
Explanation:
The question reads who is the Knight and who is the Knave. Let's start with the Knight first. The Knight (Zoey or Mel) says that at least one of us is a Knight which is true. Obviously, he is definitely a Knight since he cannot lie. Now, the Knave (Zoey or Mel) tells us that at least one of us is a Knight, but we know it is a lie, therefore what he really says is that none of us is a Knight which negates the Knight's truth and his existence. As a result, they can't be a knight and a knave.
So, there are two options. First, they are both Knaves and their statements are simply a lie. Second, they are both Knights. I believe they are both Knaves. Since Knights tell always the truth, Zoey and Mel could just say "We are both Knights" instead of the more elusive and ambiguous "At least one of us is a Knight". It just doesn't fit to the morality of a Knight. On the other hand, Knaves have no problem to "trick" you and misguide you since they are keen on telling lies...
2007-01-14 16:35:19 · answer #2 · answered by Alexander K 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They are either both knights or both knaves, but you can't tell which.
They can only say the same thing about the same subject (cleverly the setter of the puzzle gets them both to talk about both of them) if they are of the same type - thus they are either both knights or both knaves.
If they are both knights then "at least one of us is a knight" is true. "At least one of us" covers:
1. One of them is a knight AND
2. Both of them are knights
so there is no contradiction - they can both be knights.
If they are both knaves then "at least one of us is a knave" is false: so, again, there is no contradiction.
[Edit] IGNORE THE SEX OF ZOEY AND MEL!!!!! This is NOT the point of the question - the point of the question is LOGIC which is the avoidance of contradiction. It is CRUCIALLY important that you do NOT add anything to the question that isn't there - there is no information about whether Knights or Knaves are male of female. "This is all the question said" and this is all the question should be taken as saying.
2007-01-14 15:01:01 · answer #3 · answered by anthonypaullloyd 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well, there are only so many likely explainations:
A) One is a knight and one is a knave
B) They both are knights
C) They both are knaves
A) Can't be true because if one is a knight, the knave can't say that 'at least one of us is a knight' because it would be true.
B) Can be true because they both only said one of us is at Least a knight, which means that two of them can be knights, just at least one of them.
C) Can also be true because if they both are lying, then they both must be knaves.
So, can you determine who is a knight and who is a knave? The answer is No, because one cannot be a knight and the other a knave.
2007-01-14 17:11:40 · answer #4 · answered by Source 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Helpful hints from a fellow student of philosophy:
-Do either of the phrases "At least one of us is a knight," have mixed functions? ...logical, expressive, evocative?
-With whom are both speakers conversing?
Maybe You arrive at the island. One of the two inhabitants met speaks first whether or not they are bearing false witness. Then the second of the two inhabitants met, retorts in jest or disgust towards the previous remark, but not necessarily in a declarative manor which must be true or false, but possibly inflects his phrase in a way expressing distaste.
In that case the first may be telling a truth or lie, and the second just expressing himself with an opinionated expressive repetition of the first phrase, thus not telling a truth or lie.
Otherwise, You will HAVE to know how many knights there are presently being spoken of, if any, or how many knaves there are presently being spoken of, if any.
There really isn't an answer, your professor just wants to know how well you can list every single option and conclusion, and list the premises, which any that are not listed in this question are assumed, that lead to and found the conclusion.
2007-01-17 17:49:13 · answer #5 · answered by Steven James 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
First, kudos to your instructor for using names from Firefly (I suspect that's what he was dong anyway).
Second, consider this: either both of them are knights, or both of them are knaves. This is all you can determine from what's given to you.
Lastly, are you allowed to ask additional questions? Ask one inhabitant whether the other one would tell you he was a knight. Since both knaves and knights will tell you they are knights, the true answer to this question is always "Yes." Therefore, if he says "Yes," he's telling the truth, and therefore they are both knights. If he says "No," he's lying, and therefore they are both knaves.
2007-01-14 13:45:32 · answer #6 · answered by A Shameless Pedant 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
as you have only meet two inhabitants and and one must be a knight and one must be a knaves then one is a knight and one is a knaves.if there are more inhabitants then both are knaves
2007-01-14 14:20:58 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
they are both knaves because a knave would lie so a knights answere couldnt be the same
2007-01-14 13:39:09 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
If it is given that one subject is a knight and one a nave, then the question could be asked of either " What will your companion say if I ask him of his status?".
If the knight is asked he will tell you that his companion will tell you he is a knight.
If the nave is asked he will tell you that his companion will identify himself as a nave.
Thus you may ask the question of either and know that the "opposite" of their answer is the truth.
The hitch in this situation is that both made the same initial statement which seems to invalidate the premise that you have indeed confronted a knight and a nave.
Perhaps something was lost in translation?
2007-01-14 13:55:25 · answer #9 · answered by David G 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
'these two guys are lying,both of them are knaves-because they are not knights, i know n i can tell,they're not wearing the traditional knights' uniform n both of them r just servants of the knights-a true knight arrives n they serve him-hu', what a knight!
2007-01-14 13:55:48 · answer #10 · answered by STOIKA 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋