kettle logic

Questions

What does kettle logic mean?

A rhetorical device involving the use of multiple arguments that are inconsistent with each other.

Where does kettle logic come from?

Calque of French logique du chaudron. The expression was used by Jacques Derrida in reference to a story related by Sigmund Freud, in which a man accused by his neighbour of having returned a kettle in a damaged condition offers three conflicting arguments: that he returned the kettle undamaged; that it was already damaged when he borrowed it; and that he never borrowed it in the first place.

How to pronounce kettle logic

1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “kettle logic”.
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