Agrippa's Trilemma Analysis

To believe or not to believe- that is the central question that arises when addressing the philosophical problem of “Agrippa’s Trilemma”. Agrippa’s Trilemma is a philosophical dilemma that occurs when developing premises for an argument. The Trilemma specifically exposes arguments that are based on premises that can be easily negated. This is a critical aspect to consider in philosophy because; if there is good enough reason to believe the premises of an argument, then it comes to say that the conclusion of an argument is justifiable as well. Conversely, if an argument lacks substantial evidence to support the premises of an argument, then the conclusion of the argument shall be deemed not believable. Specific cases of the Trilemma include …show more content…
To provide an example of an argument in which the premise is assured, imagine a professor that says, “Everyone knows that diamonds are carbon structures.” In saying this, the professor has significantly reduced the chances of being challenged by the audience since he has put the premise beyond a reasonable doubt. This also works successfully because the professor has not argued his premise, nor has he given any reason for the audience to believe the premise, therefore he has minimized and possibilities of opposition to his premise and is therefore able to proceed to his argument. By assuring the premises of an argument, the professor has avoided the first problem associated with Agrippa’s Trilemma because he does not need to support his premise nor does he need to give any substantial reasons as to why the audience should believe his …show more content…
To discount a premise, the arguer does not have to present an argument to validate his premise; all he or she has to do is acknowledge an objection to the premise and discount it as not being worthy enough to overrule the premise. A great example of this may be, “The truck is too big, but it is powerful.” This shows that the downside of the size of the truck is not a good enough reason to overrule the premise that the truck is powerful. Since the arguer has acknowledged the objection to his premise, the objector must look for another objection that may overrule the current premise of the argument. Therefore, discounting the premise eliminates the possibility of an infinite series of arguments, thus serving as the final solution to the