Weekly Trinity journal., 1870-03-19
NUMBER II.
ParadOxes.

The word oblige is subject to paradoxical con-
structon. When you oblige man to do a thing
which he does not want to do, you may dis
oohge him at the same time. 1t has been re-
marked that there is very great difference be-
tween IA church where the gospel is dispensed,
and one where it is dispensed with. We have
often heard the story OF how the captain of a ca
nal boat cried, " Look out !" to his passengers,
when they were going under a bride, aud bow a
Frenchman looked accordingly and received IL
bump on the head; but it has never been de-
cided that the Frenchman took any incorrect or
unusual sigui6catiou from the words. 1t has
never been decided whether house burns up or
down. The question whether mau that falls
from boat aud is rescued from drowning, is
pulled out or pulled in, depends mainly whether
You are speaking primarily of the water or of the
boat Some one has noticed that people say
they she'll peas when they unShell them; that
they husk corn when they unhusk it; that they
scale fishes when they unscale them; that their
gardens want wedding when they are weedy
enough already. These paradoxes in words
the foundation of the puzzles in logic which are
common. For instance, the trite sylogsm
to the effect that because no cat has two tails,
and because cat has one more tail than no cat,
therefore cat has three tails, the trouble arises
in the paradoxical use of the phrase "no cat,'
While 1t is quite true in one sense that no cat
has two tails il is not true in the sense in which
it is employed in the .sylogism, because " no
cat " being nonentity, has no tail Singu-
larly, IL is argued that Oxford must from all an
tiquity, have been either somew here or nowhere.
Where was 1t at the time OF Tarquinius Prseus ?
1t was nowhere then it surely must have hceu
somewhere. Where was it? Aristotle and Phil
etus, and don't know bow many others ure
said to have bothered themselves very much
with a proposition like this. 1t you say of your
self, " lie, and in saying SO tell the truth,
then it is quite evident that you lie; but If YOU
say 90 lie, and you tell lie in saying it then
you also tell the truth in saying it, In either
case you lie and tell the truth at the same time
have heard somebody make the following prop
ositon: "Suppose tor example, that mm
Thirty five years old marres girl five years old.
Tie is seven times as Old as she. They live to-
gether five years aud the girl IS ten years old
Then the man is forty years old, or only four
times as old as the girl. They live together five
years more and the girl is fifteen. Then the
man is forty-fve or only three times as Old.
They live until she is thirty and the old man Is
sixty. He is then only twice as old. Now, how
long will they have to live to make the girl As
old AS the man Although in this case the girl
is catching the man very fast, the reason is sim
liar to that by which it was long ago argued
that man never could catch u tortoise which
had mile the start. While the man runs II
mile the tortoise goes one-lenlh of Il mile, whilo
the man rams that oue-tcnth OF u mile the tor
tose goes one-hundredth of mile; while the
man runs that one-hundredth of mile, the tor
tose goes one -thOusandth of n mile while the
man runs that one-thOusaudth of mile, the tor
tOise goes one ten -thOusHndth of u mile and
on to any extent of which tue decimal notation
is capable--the tortoise always being some iuin-
itesimal fraction of space ahead of the man. |
will only give one illustration more of this char
acter Roe wishes to study law with Doe aud
oilers to pay his customary fee when he sh Ill
win his first suit at law. To this Doc agrees,
and Roe becomes student. Doe gets tired
waiting for his fee, and determines to sue Roo
for the amount. Doe reasons: elf | gain the
case Roe will be compelled to pay me by the de-
csion OF the court If | lose it be will have to
pay me by the condition of our contract, he
will have gained his first law suit" Bat Roe
also reasons " If | succeed, and the awird Of
the court is in my favor, of course have to pay
the money; if the court decides against me, |
shall not have to pay II according to the terms
of our contract, :or shall NOT then have gained
my first suit at law. The discerning reader will
easily perceive that a great many of the meta
physical, political and doctriual discussions
which are going on in this earth get their prin-
cipal fuel in the different sense of words aud
nh