Paradox of Self-Amendment by Peter Suber 3. There is an exception, of course, for the definition of "inconsistency" as something eliminable by authorization. But this is to resort to fiction, much as a legislature will declare time stopped in order to finish its business by midnight on a certain day. An inconsistency that can be overcome merely by the say-so of one of the propositions involved is not the kind of inconsistency that underlies serious problems. 85