Editing Circular reference (section)

==In language==
A circular reference is not to be confused with the [[logical fallacy]] of a [[circular argument]].  Although a circular reference will often be unhelpful and reveal no information, such as two entries in a book index referring to each other, it is not necessarily so that a circular reference is of no use.  Dictionaries, for instance, must always ultimately be a circular reference since all words in a dictionary are defined in terms of other words, but a dictionary nevertheless remains a useful reference.  Sentences containing circular references can still be meaningful:

:''Her brother gave her a kitten; his sister thanked him for it.''

is circular, but not without meaning.  Indeed, it can be argued that self-reference is a necessary consequence of Aristotle's [[law of non-contradiction]], a fundamental philosophical [[axiom]].  In this view, without self-reference, [[logic]] and [[mathematics]] become impossible, or at least, lack usefulness.<ref>[[Terry A. Osborn]], [https://books.google.com/books?id=fvJTwwCSy8UC&dq=%22circular+reference%22+-excel+-computer+-programming&pg=PA32 ''The future of foreign language education in the United States''], pp.31-33, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2002 {{ISBN|0-89789-719-6}}.</ref><ref name=Fiengo>Robert Fiengo, Robert May, [https://books.google.com/books?id=V77kaAVpU0UC&dq=%22circular+reference%22+-excel+-computer+-programming&pg=PA60 ''Indices and identity''], pp.59-62, MIT Press, 1994 {{ISBN|0-262-56076-3}}.</ref>