*** Welcome to piglix ***

Loki's wager


Loki's Wager is recent (c. 2010) term for a form of continuum fallacy (Sorites paradox).

Named for a story from the Prose Edda (Skáldskaparmál ), it is the unreasonable insistence that a concept cannot be defined, and therefore cannot be discussed.

Loki once made a bet with the dwarf Brok. It was agreed that the price, should Loki lose the wager, would be his head. Loki lost the bet, and in due time the dwarves came to collect the head which had become rightfully theirs. Loki had no problem with giving up his head, but he insisted they had absolutely no right to take any part of his neck. Everyone concerned discussed the matter; certain parts were obviously head, and certain parts were obviously neck, but neither side could agree exactly where the one ended and the other began. As a result, Loki kept his head indefinitely, although his lips were stitched shut as punishment for getting out of the bet with tricky wordplay.

One may overcome the fallacy either by establishing a reasonable, working definition of the term in issue, or by showing that the other party is being unreasonable and avoiding the argument.


...
Wikipedia

...