Meaning of Last Thursdayism | Babel Free

Definitions

The proposition that the universe began to exist last Thursday, with the appearance of age and history.

Equivalents

Examples

“The statement is on the order of Last Thursdayism; it can never be proven or disproven.”

“Any memories you might have of the past were created in your head when you were created, just as the fossils were placed in the rocks to look as if they were from the ancient past. This idea is nicknamed “Last Thursdayism” by the famous philosopher Bertrand Russell as in “the world might have been created last Thursday—how would we know the difference?””

“Last Thursdayism is a response to omphalism which posits that, by the same logic, the world might have been created last Thursday (or, by implication, any given date and time), but with the appearance of age: people's memories, history books, fossils, light already on the way from distant stars, and so forth.”

CEFR level