Contradictorial gradualism vs. discontinuism: Two views on fuzziness and the transition problem

The paper investigates two questions, namely: the nature, and the cause of the soritical transition, which is claimed to be constitutive of fuzziness. First an argument is presented to the effect that there is prima facie evidence that the soritical series is incompatible with a transition from one opposite to the other. Then two positions are critically reviewed: nihilism and discontinuism (two of whose varieties are the so-called epistemicism and supervaluationism). Both are found wanting in that none has adequate answers to our two queries. Finally a solution is developed which accommodates the graduality of the transition, and its contradictoriality. Thus a contra-dictorial gradualism is shown to be all that is demanded to account for the phenomenon. © 2011 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.