Paradox Power

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Charlemagne_III

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Paradox has been defined as a seemingly absurd or contradictory statement or proposition which, when investigated, may prove to be well founded or true.

Life is simple, and life is complicated; but life is most of all a paradox that no philosopher has fully explained without recourse to divinity.

Here is a paradox to get us started:

Nature selects for survival through change. But nature has no mind with which to select.

Here’s another from Chesterton:

“Liberty has produced scepticism, and scepticism has destroyed liberty."

Do you care to share one of your favorite paradoxes?

This thread will either get very interesting or it will go nowhere. 😉
 
More from Chesterton:

“There are two kinds of paradoxes. They are not so much the good and the bad, nor even the true and the false. Rather they are the fruitful and the barren; the paradoxes which produce life and the paradoxes that merely announce death. Nearly all modern paradoxes merely announce death.”
 
The main function of the mind is to stay alive, yet, (according to Freud) the mind itself expresses a drive towards death.

ICXC NIKA
 
GEddie said:
The main function of the mind is to stay alive, yet, (according to Freud) the mind itself expresses a drive towards death.

ICXC NIKA
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The creature recognizes that it is not designed to physically operate forever. It operates as long as it can, without removing from its mind the possibility of death, and the drive toward death that may be manifested in a number of ways, such as martyrdom, suicide, and death wishes.

alternative statement
The mind recognizes that it is not designed to operate forever physically. It operates as long as it can, without removing from itself the possibility of death, and the drive toward death that may manifest itself in a number of ways, such as martyrdom, suicide, and death wishes.
🤷
 
I’m not sure it’s a paradox beyond the surface words, because it makes sense that it would be so when you think about it. It’s something Socrates said. The more you know, the more you realize how little you know.

A paradox seen in the news currently is that a person, particularly a politician, who speaks their mind, even though everything they say is a contradiction, suggesting that there must be a lie somewhere, is likely to be thought of as being more honest than one who is careful and consistent with her words. Again the paradox is only on the surface since the person being themselves, as grandiose and confused as they might be, is more real than the one who is guarded and wanting to project a certain image.
 
Charlemagne_III said:
Paradox has been defined as a seemingly absurd or contradictory statement or proposition which, when investigated, may prove to be well founded or true.

Life is simple, and life is complicated; but life is most of all a paradox that no philosopher has fully explained without recourse to divinity.

Here is a paradox to get us started:

Nature selects for survival through change. But nature has no mind with which to select.

Here’s another from Chesterton:

“Liberty has produced scepticism, and scepticism has destroyed liberty."

Do you care to share one of your favorite paradoxes?

This thread will either get very interesting or it will go nowhere. 😉
Click to expand...
One type of paradox, according to Quine, is as you define it. That’s not the only one. And I don’t think they’re the really interesting ones.

As for the nature paradox. I think that’s more an ambiguity of language regarding the word “selects” I can replicate it:
  1. Nothing is better than eternal life.
  2. A ham sandwich is better than nothing.
C. A ham sandwich is better than eternal life.

If we resolve the messy use of language, this paradox falls apart. I’m not sure the Chesterton paradox you listed is a paradox either. I mean. “A lighter started a forest fire, which destroyed the lighter” follows the same form and makes perfect sense. And I don’t mean to poo-poo your post. Just laying out my thoughts. I’ll get on with the question at hand.

I think Russell’s Paradox is my favorite. It’s one of the more important ones in the history of modern thought. Schrodinger’s Cat is a good one, even if it’s usually misunderstood. Hilbert’s Hotel is neat,too. I guess the Liar’s Paradox is the most simple one. It still makes my brain hurt when I think about trying to account for it.
 
Rhubarb said:
As for the nature paradox. I think that’s more an ambiguity of language regarding the word “selects” I can replicate it:
  1. Nothing is better than eternal life.
  2. A ham sandwich is better than nothing.
C. A ham sandwich is better than eternal life.
Click to expand...
😃

I think the OP sentence is punning two meanings, as in biology the word selection has a technical definition, a blind process influencing survival.

As for the Chesterton, if it were true then there would be liberty in getting suckered, so I’d agree it’s not a paradox. I looked up the quote, and Chesterton continues by arguing that taking away a poor man’s crack cocaine removes his liberty. Well, I paraphrase, he says pot of beer. He seems to think liberty means anything goes, so again it’s about definitions.
 
Is this a paradox?

“For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.” Matthew 16:25 ►
 
Charlemagne_III said:
Is this a paradox?

“For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.” Matthew 16:25 ►
Click to expand...
I think so; it is an issue of what’s on the surface does not represent the reality of the depths.

God as Existence itself and the Source of all being is Love. The less we act in a loving fashion, refusing to give of ourselves, the more disconnected we become from the Source of all life and all action. We become frozen in sin, compelled and reduced in our capacity to act freely. Life belongs to God. In appropriating what is not ours, in taking rather than giving, we deplete oursleves of what sustains us; we are thus left as empty shells. Those who give of themselves, become Christ-like, their true self, the person they were meant to be. Being eternal in our connection to, our relationship with God, even if we are killed, especially for our faith or for another, we live more fully, united with the Source of all goodness and light.
 
I like Chesterton’s description of paradox as “truth standing on its head to gain attention.”
 
“The only constant is change.”

“The more you try to keep someone close, the further away you’ll push them.”

“The more you’re afraid to fail, the more likely you are to fail.”

“The less you care about others, the less you care about yourself.”

“The more you fail, the more likely you are to succeed.”
 
“What is mature love? It is union under the condition of preserving one’s integrity, one’s individuality. In love the paradox occurs that two beings become one and yet remain two.”
Erich Fromm

“It is a great mistake to suppose that love unites and unifies men. Love diversifies them, because love is directed towards individuality. The thing that really unites men and makes them like to each other is hatred.” G. K. Chesterton

“A liberal may be roughly defined as someone who, if he could stop all the deceivers from deceiving and all the oppressors from oppressing merely by snapping his fingers, wouldn’t snap his fingers.” Oliver Wendel Holmes

“Almost every wise saying has an opposite one, no less wise to balance it.” George Santayana

“The opposite of a correct statement is a false statement. But the opposite of a profound truth may well be another profound truth.” Niels Bohr
 
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