Coming to Terms with our Human Fallibility: Christensen on the Preface

Imagine that I have just finished delivering a philosophy paper. The question period has just begun. You raise your hand. Once called upon, you tell me that something I said very early on in my presentation, taken together with two things I said somewhat late in the presentation, logically imply a contradiction. What might I say in response? I might say that I actually hadn’t said all these three things. Or, I might deny that the three things logically imply a contradiction. What I wouldn’t do—because it would be absolutely outrageous for me to do it—is admit that I said the three things, admit that they logically imply a contradiction, but deny that this was any criticism of what I said. Thus the following principle: