Josheb vs John Bauer (11 Jan 2026)

[John Bauer]

It is the equivalent of saying, “I do not believe in choices, but I do believe the definition of ‘choice’ exists.” That is self-contradictory. I have cited multiple occasions in which contradictions exist. Not one of them has been corrected.

There may be a good reason why the contradictions he has identified haven’t been corrected. Take this one as an example. Just because he called something self-contradictory doesn’t mean it is—and this one is not.

Consider a substitution: “I do not believe in Santa Claus, but I do believe the definition of ‘Santa Claus’ exists.” It should be immediately obvious that this is not self-contradictory. This assertion merely distinguishes between a concept and its instantiation. It is coherent to say, “The term Santa Claus is definable within our language or conceptual scheme, but nothing in reality answers to it.”

 

[makesends]

There may be a good reason why the contradictions he has identified haven’t been corrected. Take this one as an example. Just because he called something self-contradictory doesn’t mean it is—and this one is not.

Consider a substitution: “I do not believe in Santa Claus, but I do believe the definition of ‘Santa Claus’ exists.” It should be immediately obvious that this is not self-contradictory. This assertion merely distinguishes between a concept and its instantiation. It is coherent to say, “The term Santa Claus is definable within our language or conceptual scheme, but nothing in reality answers to it.”

Not to mention that @Josheb defines choice according to THE DICTIONARY, and not according to the whole reason for the OP from which this contention descended. It was written (among other related things) to demonstrate that the Dictionary definition and/or the human POV from which the dictionary defines things is not sufficient.

When I say, "The dictionary is wrong/ not sufficient/ is humanly derived and not defining words according to God's POV which is THE ONLY TRUTH in the end, he may as well have said, "The dictionary says choice is between two or more possibilities so you are wrong."

 

[makesends]

Notice that @Josheb keeps equating 'choice' with 'possibility' with 'option'. As I remember, anyway, he pretty much uses 'option' and 'possibility' as meaning the same thing.