Performative contradiction are performative contradictions in this context. Habermas claims that post-modernism's epistemological relativism suffers from a performative contradiction. Hans-Hermann Hoppe claims in his theory of argumentation ethics that arguing for any political position other than free-market anarchism results in a performative contradiction. Jaakko Hintikka more rigorously fleshed out the notion of performative contradiction in analyzing Descartes' famous "cogito ergo sum" argument, concluding that "cogito ergo sum" relies on performance rather than logical inference. Performative contradiction A performative contradiction () arises when the propositional content of a statement contradicts the presuppositions of asserting it. An example of a performative contradiction is the
Cogito, ergo sum of other minds at this point. This is something that has to be thought through by each of us for ourselves, as we follow the course of the meditations. Second, he does not say that his existence is necessary; he says that "if he thinks", then necessarily he exists (see the instantiation principle). Third, this proposition "I am, I exist" is held true not based on a deduction (as mentioned above) or on empirical induction but on the clarity and self-evidence of the proposition. Descartes does not use this first certainty, the "cogito", as a foundation upon which to build