For example: Why is the Sun hot? Because it's the Sun. Why is the grass green? Because it's grass.
-
2Do you mean like in "Why do n00bs ask daft questions?" – Mick Oct 28 '16 at 15:27
-
This is just sarcasm - the answer isn't really in the question. The answer to "why is the sun hot" is "because it's undergoing nuclear fusion". – John Feltz Oct 28 '16 at 15:32
-
Your examples are inadequate. The sun is hot for other reasons (hydrogen, explosions, etc) and an astronomer can explain it better than I. Grass is green because it has a green pigment called chlorophyll. – Centaurus Oct 28 '16 at 15:33
-
Please rephrase your questions and give good examples. – Centaurus Oct 28 '16 at 15:34
-
1Ughhh. These questions should just be deleted. Why even bother?? – Lambie Oct 28 '16 at 16:00
-
I think you're really asking, "Is the sun the sun?" But let's turn that into a statement: "The sun is the sun." The logical positivists argue that no proposition, other than a tautology, can possibly be anything more than a probable hypothesis. So that statement is cognitively verifiable or--the truth. – Zan700 Oct 28 '16 at 16:34
3 Answers
You might call this a tautology:
the saying of the same thing twice in different words, generally considered to be a fault of style (e.g., they arrived one after the other in succession ).
synonyms: pleonasm, repetition, reiteration, redundancy, superfluity, duplication
"avoid such tautology as "let's all work together, everyone, as a team" by saying simply "let's work together""
a phrase or expression in which the same thing is said twice in different words.
See also: circular reasoning
- 11,324
self evident:
evident without proof or reasoning (Merriam Webster)
clear or obvious without needing any proof or explanation: Solutions which seem self-evident to humans are often beyond the grasp of computers (Cambridge)
- 1,244
These are circular answers. Circular meaning "referring back to itself" or "leading back to itself".
Circular answers are an example of circular reasoning or logic: the answer follows from the question, but the question also follows from the answer.
- 2,267