Performative Contradiction
Transcendental pragmatics (Apel, Habermas)
A contradiction between the propositional content of a statement and the performative presuppositions of its utterance. Example: "I do not exist" -- the statement contradicts the fact that someone is uttering it. The performative contradiction shows what we cannot coherently deny, because we already presuppose it in the very act of denying it.
Origin
Aristotle's principle of non-contradiction (impossible to deny). In the 20th century, this is developed by Apel and Habermas into the "transcendental-pragmatic" method -- not what can be thought, but what is already presupposed in the very act of thinking, is that which cannot be gotten behind.
In Hegel
Corresponds to the method of self-application -- the concept tests itself through its own enactment.
Cross-references
Self-Application · Performativ · Transzendentalpragmatik · Unhintergehbarkeit · Reflexionsformen
Im kontext der reflexionsformen (kap. 5.5)
The performative contradiction is the moment of *external reflection* -- what is posited (the assertion) meets resistance (the enactment that contradicts it). The resolution of the performative contradiction is *determining reflection*: we recognize why the contradiction was *necessary* and what it *shows*.
Beispiel (skeptiker)
- Positing reflection: "There is no truth" (the assertion is posited) - External reflection: The assertion itself lays claim to truth (resistance) - Determining reflection: Truth cannot be gotten behind -- the contradiction *shows* this
Systematischer ort
The performative contradiction is the criterion for structures that cannot be gotten behind -- whatever cancels itself out when denied must be true.