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Preface

Doris Olin
Affiliation:
York University, Toronto
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Summary

How quaint the ways of Paradox!

At common sense she gaily mocks!

W S. Gilbert, The Pirates of Penzance

Paradoxes are fascinating: they baffle and haunt. They are among the most gripping of philosophical problems, for as we struggle through the maze of argument and counter-argument, there is the sense that the solution, the crucial insight, lies just beyond the next turn of the path. Still, most of the paradoxes of interest to philosophers are not mere intellectual puzzles. They raise substantive philosophical issues, and their resolution offers the prospect of increased philosophical knowledge.

This book begins by considering what a paradox is, and what the possible avenues are for resolution of a paradox. Chapter 2 examines a challenge to the analysis based on the view that contradictions can be true, and that the conclusion of a paradox may thus be both true and false. In subsequent chapters, the focus is on a detailed study of paradoxes that are particularly riveting and seductive (or, at least, strike me as so), and that appear to have considerable philosophical depth. The paradoxes studied are also linked by the theme of rationality: they raise difficult issues about the rationality of belief, the rationality of action and the coherence of our language.

The permission granted by editors and publishers to reprint material previously published is acknowledged at the beginning of the relevant chapters, and is much appreciated.

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Paradox , pp. ix - x
Publisher: Acumen Publishing
Print publication year: 2002

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  • Preface
  • Doris Olin, York University, Toronto
  • Book: Paradox
  • Online publication: 05 February 2013
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/UPO9781844653508.001
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  • Preface
  • Doris Olin, York University, Toronto
  • Book: Paradox
  • Online publication: 05 February 2013
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/UPO9781844653508.001
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Preface
  • Doris Olin, York University, Toronto
  • Book: Paradox
  • Online publication: 05 February 2013
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/UPO9781844653508.001
Available formats
×