# Graham Priest on Dialetheism, True Contradictions, the Liar Paradox & Why Classical Logic Isn’t Enough

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/singularity-fm-1654370/graham-priest-on-dialetheism-true-contradictions-the-liar-paradox-why-classical-logic-isn-t-enough
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/singularity-fm-1654370/graham-priest-on-dialetheism-true-contradictions-the-liar-paradox-why-classical-logic-isn-t-enough.md
Podcast: [Singularity.FM](https://stenobird.com/podcast/singularity-fm-1654370)
Published: 2026-02-12T18:01:42+00:00
Episode link: https://soundcloud.com/singularity1on1/graham-priest
Audio file: https://feeds.soundcloud.com/stream/2265383864-singularity1on1-graham-priest.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/singularity-fm-1654370/episodes/graham-priest-on-dialetheism-true-contradictions-the-liar-paradox-why-classical-logic-isn-t-enough
Duration seconds: 10187

## Resource

What if some contradictions are not mistakes — but truths? For over 2,500 years, Western philosophy has treated contradiction as catastrophic. From Aristotle’s law of non-contradiction to modern formal systems, logic has operated under one sacred assumption: a statement cannot be both true and false. But what if that assumption is wrong? In this deep, wide-ranging conversation, I sit down with Graham Priest, one of the world’s most influential philosophers of logic and the leading defender of dialetheism — the view that some contradictions are true. We explore: What dialetheism really means Why the liar paradox still unsettles logicians How paraconsistent logic blocks “explosion” (the idea that from a contradiction, anything follows) Whether classical logic is incomplete rather than universal What Buddhist philosophy and Nāgārjuna understood about contradiction And whether AI systems may eventually require non-classical logics to model human reasoning Far from being an abstract puzzle, the liar paradox exposes deep tensions in how we understand truth, self-reference, and rationality itself. If contradictions can be true, then the foundations of logic, mathematics, metaphysics — and even artificial intelligence — may need rethinking. We also move beyond formal systems into lived philosophy: Graham’s journey from Christianity to atheism His engagement with Buddhist thought The limits of decision theory The discipline of karate as a philosophical practice This is not merely a discussion of symbolic logic. It is a conversation about the limits of reason. About what happens when our most trusted intellectual tools reach their breaking point. And about whether embracing contradiction might expand — rather than destroy — rational inquiry. If your background is in technology,…

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