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Pappus of Alexandria: Book 4 of the Collection
by Heike Sefrin-WeisAlthough not so well known today, Book 4 of Pappus' Collection is one of the most important and influential mathematical texts from antiquity. The mathematical vignettes form a portrait of mathematics during the Hellenistic "Golden Age", illustrating central problems - for example, squaring the circle; doubling the cube; and trisecting an angle - varying solution strategies, and the different mathematical styles within ancient geometry. This volume provides an English translation of Collection 4, in full, for the first time, including: a new edition of the Greek text, based on a fresh transcription from the main manuscript and offering an alternative to Hultsch's standard edition, notes to facilitate understanding of the steps in the mathematical argument, a commentary highlighting aspects of the work that have so far been neglected, and supporting the reconstruction of a coherent plan and vision within the work, bibliographical references for further study.
Para combatir esta era: Consideraciones urgentes contra el fascismo y el humanismo
by Rob RiemenCombinando un conocimiento profundo de historia y filosofía con la sensibilidad literaria de un elocuente humanista, Rob Riemen identifica la ruta del eterno retorno del fascismo. Gracias a su lucidez y valentía, Albert Camus y Thomas Mann pudieron entender algo que hoy en día muchos politólogos son incapaces de admitir. En 1947, ambos lanzaron una advertencia: la guerra ha terminado, pero el fascismo no fue vencido. Aunque se demore algunas décadas, volverá otra vez. No lo reconoceremos por sus ideas, pues el fascismo no tiene ninguna, pero sí por sus acciones y su política. Una política del resentimiento, el miedo y la ira. Ése es el esqueleto fascista: incitación a la violencia, un vulgar materialismo, un nacionalismo asfixiante, xenofobia, la necesidad de señalar chivos expiatorios, la banalización del arte, el odio por la vida intelectual y una feroz resistenciaal cosmopolitismo. En estos días se presenta en el escenario mundial disfrazado de populismo, haciendo falsas promesas de libertad y grandeza. ¿Cómo podemos detenerlo? ¿Cómo podemos salir de la crisis de civilización de nuestra era, de la cual el fascismo es sólo una manifestación? La respuesta, nos dice el autor de estas consideraciones tempestivas, está en el regreso de la nobleza de espíritu, en la recuperación de los valores universales de verdad, justicia, belleza, compasión y sabiduría. Sólo en estos pilares puede apoyarse una sociedad verdaderamente democrática. Otros autores han opinado: "Rob Riemen tiene un hondo compromiso. Con los valores morales e intelectuales de nuestra frágil comunidad. Con esa elusiva pero vital "decencia del pensamiento". Es un humanista en el sentido clásico y un agudo observador de los cambios tecnológicos que operan en nuestros debates políticos. Leerlo es participar en un diálogo desafiante. Es experimentar tanto angustia como esperanza -quizás estas dos son, de alguna forma misteriosa, lo mismo." George Steiner "Para combatir esta era, de Rob Riemen, es una meditación audaz, valiente, original y provocadora. Desafía muchos de los diagnósticos al uso sobre la presente crisis de la civilización occidental, ofreciendo perspectivas sorprendentes e inesperadas. Rob Riemen nos invita a no dar la espalda a los mejores aspectos de la civilización Europea, sin convertirnos en meros museógrafos de nuestro patrimonio cultural, sino, por el contrario, en herederos activos de esta tradición de humanismo, tolerancia y creatividad. Este libro ha sido escrito con pasión, con entusiasmo y con verdadera devoción." Amos Oz "En este breve pero poderoso libro, Para combatir esta era, Rob Riemen argumenta que la crisis política que se desarrolla a nuestro alrededor es en realidad una crisis de la civilización [#]. Éste es un libro para aquellas personas que quieren que Occidente recupere su autoridad moral y que quieren pensar seriamente en cómo ayudar a conseguirlo." Anne Applebaum
Para/Inquiry: Postmodern Religion and Culture
by Victor E. TaylorPara/Inquiry represents the next generation of postmodern studies. Focusing on cultural studies religion, and literature, Victor E. Taylor provides us with a fresh look at the history and main themes of postmodernism, both in style and content.Central to the book is the status of the sacred in postmodern times. Taylor explores the sacred images in art, culture and literature. We see that the concept of the sacred is uniquely singular and resistant to an easy assimilation into artistic, cultural or narrative forms. Anyone wishing to gain a new and exciting understanding of postmodernism, will read this book with great pleasure.
Para leer una mañana de domingo: Irreverencias, bagatelas, breverías
by Francisco Pérez de Antón«Quien camina de puntillas por la vida está condenado a abandonarla sin que nadie note que ha pasado por ella.» Decía José Bergamín que las ideas no deben guardarse, sino que hay que salir de ellas y dejarlas correr como si fueran liebres. La cabeza no es una madriguera y si las ideas se quedan ahí pueden volverle a uno loco. Este libro es una antología de las ideas que el autor ha ido escribiendo a lo largo de los años y que ha traducido en frases breves, que gusta llamar “breverías”, con el fin de poder ser leídas al vuelo en una apacible mañana de domingo. Textos sobre la condición humana, sus contradicciones y flaquezas, expresadas muchas veces con humor y desenfado, y que sacuden como el tuit que, lanzado con precisión, da en la diana. Y así como remitimos aquellos mensajes que nos parecen dignos de compartir, el lector encontrará en estas páginas sentencias a las que regresará por la agudeza y claridad de su pensamiento. Sabiduría intensa, bagatelas sorprendentes, irreverencias divertidas: todo un banquete para regocijo de quien se acerque a leerlas
The Parable of the Three Rings and the Idea of Religious Toleration in European Culture
by Iris ShagrirThis book examines the premodern encounter between the three monotheistic religions through the unique prism of a premodern literary work—The Parable of the Three Rings—a poignant and charming tale of a father who had three sons and one precious ring. By tradition he was to bequeath the ring to his heir, but he loved his three sons equally — so he had two new rings made, crafted to be indistinguishable from the original, and on his deathbed gave a ring to each son. The narrator explains that the father is God, and his sons are the Jews, the Christians, and the Muslims, each believing themselves to be the sole upholders of the true religion. A historical and literary study, the book offers a comprehensive discussion of the various guises of the Parable, from the early Middle Ages onwards, and highlights its capacity to reflect openness and pluralism in the interfaith encounter.
Parables for the Virtual: Movement, Affect, Sensation (Post-Contemporary Interventions)
by Brian MassumiSince its publication twenty years ago, Brian Massumi's pioneering Parables for the Virtual has become an essential text for interdisciplinary scholars across the humanities. Massumi views the body and media such as television, film, and the internet as cultural formations that operate on multiple registers of sensation. Renewing and assessing William James's radical empiricism and Henri Bergson's philosophy of perception through the filter of the postwar French philosophy of Deleuze, Guattari, and Foucault, Massumi links a cultural logic of variation to questions of movement, affect, and sensation. Replacing the traditional opposition of literal and figural with distinctions between stasis and motion and between actual and virtual, Massumi tackles related theoretical issues by applying them to cultural mediums as diverse as architecture, body art, the digital art of Stelarc, and Ronald Reagan's acting career. The result is an intriguing combination of cultural theory, science, and philosophy that asserts itself in a crystalline and multifaceted argument.This twentieth anniversary edition includes a new preface in which Massumi situates the book in relation to developments since its publication and outlines the evolution of its main concepts. It also includes two short texts, “Keywords for Affect” and “Missed Conceptions about Affect,” in which Massumi explicates his approach to affect in ways that emphasize the book's political and philosophical stakes.
Parables of Kierkegaard
by Søren KierkegaardThe description for this book, Parables of Kierkegaard, will be forthcoming.
Parables of Sun Light: Observations on Psychology, the Arts and the Rest
by Rudolf ArnheimThe book will be a joy to ramble through for all lovers of Arnheim's work, and indeed for anyone who shares Arnheim's contagious interest in the order that lies behind art, nature, and human life. It is a seedbed of ideas and observations in his special fields of psychology and the arts.
Parables of the Posthuman: Digital Realities, Gaming, and the Player Experience (Contemporary Approaches to Film and Media Series)
by Jonathan BoulterIn its intimate joining of self and machine, video gaming works to extend the body into a fluid, dynamic, unstable, and discontinuous entity. While digital gaming and culture has become a popular field of academic study, there has been a lack of sustained philosophical analysis of this direct gaming experience. In Parables of the Posthuman: Digital Realities, Gaming, and the Player Experience, author Jonathan Boulter addresses this gap by analyzing video games and the player experience philosophically. Finding points of departure in phenomenology and psychoanalysis, Boulter argues that we need to think seriously about what it means to enter into a relationship with the game machine and to assume (or to have conferred upon you) a machinic, posthuman identity. Parables of the Posthuman approaches the experience of gaming by asking: What does it mean for the player to enter the machinic "world" of the game? What forms of subjectivity does the game offer to the player? What happens to consciousness itself when one plays? To this end, Boulter analyzes the experience of particular role-playing video games, including Fallout 3, Half-Life 2, Bioshock, Crysis 2, and Metal Gear Solid 4. These games both thematize the idea of the posthuman--the games are "about" subjects whose physical and intellectual capacities are extended through machine or other prosthetic means--and also enact an experience of the posthuman for the player, who becomes more than what he was as he plays the game. Boulter concludes by exploring how the game acts as a parable of what the human, or posthuman, may look like in times to come. Academics with an interest in the intersection of philosophy, psychoanalysis, and popular culture forms and video gamers with an interest in thinking about the implications of gaming will enjoy this volume.
Parabolic Problems: 60 Years of Mathematical Puzzles in Parabola (AK Peters/CRC Recreational Mathematics Series)
by David Angell Thomas BritzParabola is a mathematics magazine published by UNSW, Sydney. Among other things, each issue of Parabola has contained a collection of puzzles/problems, on various mathematical topics and at a suitable level for younger (but mathematically sophisticated) readers.Parabolic Problems: 60 Years of Mathematical Puzzles in Parabola collects the very best of almost 1800 problems and puzzles into a single volume. Many of the problems have been re-mastered, and new illustrations have been added. Topics covered range across geometry, number theory, combinatorics, logic, and algebra. Solutions are provided to all problems, and a chapter has been included detailing some frequently useful problem-solving techniques, making this a fabulous resource for education and, most importantly, fun!Features Hundreds of diverting and mathematically interesting problems and puzzles. Accessible for anyone with a high school-level mathematics education. Wonderful resource for teachers and students of mathematics from high school to undergraduate level, and beyond.
Paraconsistency: Logic and Applications
by Edwin Mares Francesco Berto Francesco Paoli Koji TanakaA logic is called 'paraconsistent' if it rejects the rule called 'ex contradictione quodlibet', according to which any conclusion follows from inconsistent premises. While logicians have proposed many technically developed paraconsistent logical systems and contemporary philosophers like Graham Priest have advanced the view that some contradictions can be true, and advocated a paraconsistent logic to deal with them, until recent times these systems have been little understood by philosophers. This book presents a comprehensive overview on paraconsistent logical systems to change this situation. The book includes almost every major author currently working in the field. The papers are on the cutting edge of the literature some of which discuss current debates and others present important new ideas. The editors have avoided papers about technical details of paraconsistent logic, but instead concentrated upon works that discuss more "big picture" ideas. Different treatments of paradoxes takes centre stage in many of the papers, but also there are several papers on how to interpret paraconistent logic and some on how it can be applied to philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of language, and metaphysics.
Paraconsistency in Mathematics (Elements in the Philosophy of Mathematics)
by Zach WeberParaconsistent logic makes it possible to study inconsistent theories in a coherent way. From its modern start in the mid-20th century, paraconsistency was intended for use in mathematics, providing a rigorous framework for describing abstract objects and structures where some contradictions are allowed, without collapse into incoherence. Over the past decades, this initiative has evolved into an area of non-classical mathematics known as inconsistent or paraconsistent mathematics. This Element provides a selective introductory survey of this research program, distinguishing between `moderate' and `radical' approaches. The emphasis is on philosophical issues and future challenges.
Paraconsistent Logic: Consistency, Contradiction and Negation
by Walter Carnielli Marcelo Esteban ConiglioThis book is the first in the field of paraconsistency to offer a comprehensive overview of the subject, including connections to other logics and applications in information processing, linguistics, reasoning and argumentation, and philosophy of science. It is recommended reading for anyone interested in the question of reasoning and argumentation in the presence of contradictions, in semantics, in the paradoxes of set theory and in the puzzling properties of negation in logic programming. Paraconsistent logic comprises a major logical theory and offers the broadest possible perspective on the debate of negation in logic and philosophy. It is a powerful tool for reasoning under contradictoriness as it investigates logic systems in which contradictory information does not lead to arbitrary conclusions. Reasoning under contradictions constitutes one of most important and creative achievements in contemporary logic, with deep roots in philosophical questions involving negation and consistency This book offers an invaluable introduction to a topic of central importance in logic and philosophy. It discusses (i) the history of paraconsistent logic; (ii) language, negation, contradiction, consistency and inconsistency; (iii) logics of formal inconsistency (LFIs) and the main paraconsistent propositional systems; (iv) many-valued companions, possible-translations semantics and non-deterministic semantics; (v) paraconsistent modal logics; (vi) first-order paraconsistent logics; (vii) applications to information processing, databases and quantum computation; and (viii) applications to deontic paradoxes, connections to Eastern thought and to dialogical reasoning.
Paradigm and Ideology in Educational Research: The Social Functions of the Intellectual (Routledge Library Editions: Education)
by Thomas S PopkewitzThis book explores the complex social assumptions and values that underlie research programmes about schools. The analysis of educational research draws upon American and European scholarships in the sociology of knowledge, social philosophy and the history and sociology of science. The discussion considers first the communal, crafts and social characteristics of educational research. Three research models empirical-analytic, symbolic or linguistic and critical sciences are given attention. The discussion of the three research models is to illuminate how the constellation of commitments, assumptions and practices inter-relate to perform a paradigm giving different and conflicting definitions to the meaning of educational theory and to the use of the particular techniques of enquiry. The social role of educational research and the researcher is also considered.
The Paradigm of Justice: A Contemporary Debate between John Rawls and Amartya Sen
by Kantilal DasThis book deals with the fascinating debate over the concept of justice proposed by two contemporary thinkers, namely, John Rawls and Amartya Sen. Justice means what is just, but how do we know what is just? What would be the viable criterion to legitimize justice? Is justice objective or subjective? Is justice a matter of ontological issue or an issue of realization? What would be the paradigm of justice? These are some important issues discussed in the book. Please note: Taylor & Francis does not sell or distribute the Hardback in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
Paradigms for a Metaphorology
by Robert Savage Hans Blumenberg"Paradigms for a Metaphorology may be read as a kind of beginner's guide to Blumenberg, a programmatic introduction to his vast and multifaceted oeuvre. Its brevity makes it an ideal point of entry for readers daunted by the sheer bulk of Blumenberg's later writings, or distracted by their profusion of historical detail. Paradigms expresses many of Blumenberg's key ideas with a directness, concision, and clarity he would rarely match elsewhere. What is more, because it served as a beginner's guide for its author as well, allowing him to undertake an initial survey of problems that would preoccupy him for the remainder of his life, it has the additional advantage that it can offer us a glimpse into what might be called the ‛genesis of the Blumenbergian world.’"-from the Afterword by Robert SavageWhat role do metaphors play in philosophical language? Are they impediments to clear thinking and clear expression, rhetorical flourishes that may well help to make philosophy more accessible to a lay audience, but that ought ideally to be eradicated in the interests of terminological exactness? Or can the images used by philosophers tell us more about the hopes and cares, attitudes and indifferences that regulate an epoch than their carefully elaborated systems of thought?In Paradigms for a Metaphorology, originally published in 1960 and here made available for the first time in English translation, Hans Blumenberg (1920-1996) approaches these questions by examining the relationship between metaphors and concepts. Blumenberg argues for the existence of "absolute metaphors" that cannot be translated back into conceptual language. These metaphors answer the supposedly naïve, theoretically unanswerable questions whose relevance lies quite simply in the fact that they cannot be brushed aside, since we do not pose them ourselves but find them already posed in the ground of our existence. They leap into a void that concepts are unable to fill.An afterword by the translator, Robert Savage, positions the book in the intellectual context of its time and explains its continuing importance for work in the history of ideas.
Paradigms in Cartography
by Pablo Iván Azócar Fernández Manfred Ferdinand BuchroithnerIn this book the main trends, concepts and directions in cartography and mapping in modernism and post-modernism are reviewed. Philosophical and epistemological issues are analysed in cartography from positivist-empiricist, neo-positivist and post-structuralist stances. In general, in cartography technological aspects have been considered as well as theoretical issues. The aim is to highlight the epistemological and philosophical viewpoint during the development of the discipline. Some main philosophers who have been influential for contemporary thinking such as Immanuel Kant, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Karl Popper and Bertrand Russell, are considered. None of these philosophers wrote about cartography directly (excepting Kant), but their philosophies are related to cartography and mapping issues. The book also analyses the concept of paradigm or paradigm shift coined by Thomas Kuhn, who applied it to the history of science. Different cartographic trends that have arisen since the second half of the twentieth century are analysed according to this important concept which is implicit inside the scientific or disciplinary communities. Further, the authors analyse the position of cartography in the context of the sciences and other disciplines, adopting a positivistic point of view. Additionally, they review current trends in cartography and mapping in the context of information and communication technologies in a post-modernistic or post-structuralistic framework. Thus, since the 1980s and 1990s, new mapping concepts have arisen which challenge the discipline's traditional map conceptions.
Paradigms in Theory Construction
by Luciano L'AbateWithin the field of psychology there is a proliferation of paradigms, theories, models, and dimensions without an underlying conceptual framework or theory. This conclusion has been reached by representatives of many different psychological specialties. In response to this inconsistency this book presents a hierarchical framework about important theoretical issues that are present in psychological thinking. These issues concern definitions of three major theoretical concepts in theory and practice: (a) paradigms, (b) theories, and (c) models. It focuses on defining, comparing, and contrasting these three conceptual terms. This framework clarifies differences among paradigms, theories, and models, terms which have become increasingly confused in the psychological literature. Paradigms are usually confused with theories or with models while theories are confused with models. Examples of misuses of these terms suggest the need for a hierarchical structure that views paradigms as conceptual constructions overseeing a variety of psychological theories and verifiable models.
Paradigms of Justice: Redistribution, Recognition, and Beyond
by Denise Celentano; Luigi CarantiThis book explores the relation between redistribution and recognition, two key paradigms in the contemporary discourse on justice. Combining insights from the traditions of critical social theory and analytical political philosophy, the volume offers a multifaceted exploration of this incredibly inspiring conceptual couple from a plurality of perspectives. The chapters engage with concepts such as universal basic income, property-owning democracy, poverty, equality, self-respect, pluralism, care, and work, all of which have an impact on individuals’ recognition as well as on distributive policies. An important contribution to the field of political and social philosophy, the volume will be useful to scholars and researchers of politics, law, human rights, economics, social justice, as well as policymakers.
Paradigms of Political Power
by John R. ChamplinGenerations of men have used the notion of "power" to make sense of their political experience. Despite the fact that the term has recently fallen into comparative disfavor, the scholarly debate over the nature of power continues, with experts still striving to obtain an exact understanding of what power really is. The works collected by John R. Champlin here clearly set forth all the important arguments in the lively dispute, with a focus on the essential question: can the concept of power be used to unify the study of politics?The contributors to this work search for a definition of power, assess the value of serious political analysis in terms of power, and illustrate applications of the "power concept" to issues locally, nationally, and internationally. Hans Morgenthau supports a power-based political theory; he is countered by Charles A. McClelland and James G. March. Seeking a coherent, useful definition of the term, Thomas Hobbes investigates power in terms of its cause, and Dorothy Emmet draws up a list of distinct uses of power. Theodore Lowi achieves a fresh start on power studies by distinguishing "arenas" of power according to expectations of costs and benefits. The Lowi contribution bears on the debate over how the United States is to be characterized. Opposing C. Wright Mills' theory of the power elite as well as the idea of pluralism, Peter Bachrach and Morton S. Baratz find that opportunities for participation in political decisions and power are very unequally distributed.This unique debate on the definition of power, engaging all sides in direct dialogue with one another, includes the work of important leading scholars in this area of thought. Together with an excellent introduction by the editor, the debate gives an active dimension to this book that will enliven all college classes and interested audiences.
Paradigms of Social Order: From Holism to Pluralism and Beyond (Philosophy, Public Policy, and Transnational Law)
by Sergio DellavalleNo social life is possible without order. Order being the most constituent element of society, it is not surprising that so many theories have been developed to explain what social order is and how it is possible, as well as to explore the features that social order acquires in its different dimensions. The book leads these many theories of social order back to a few main matrices for the use of theoretical and practical reason, which are defined as 'paradigms of order'. The plurality of conceptual constructs regarding social order is therefore reduced to a manageable number of theoretical patterns and an intellectual map is produced in which the most significant differences between paradigms are clearly outlined. Furthermore, the 'paradigmatic revolutions' are addressed that marked the most relevant turning points in the way in which a 'well-ordered society' should be understood. Against this background, the question is discussed on the theoretical and practical perspectives for a cosmopolitan society as the only suitable possibility to meet the global challenges with which we are all presently confronted.
Paradise in Plain Sight
by Karen Maezen MillerCome See the Garden That Is Your Life When Zen teacher Karen Maezen Miller and her family land in a house with a hundred-year-old Japanese garden, she uses the paradise in her backyard to glean the living wisdom of our natural world. Through her eyes, rocks convey faith, ponds preach stillness, flowers give love, and leaves express the effortless ease of letting go. The book welcomes readers into the garden for Zen lessons in fearlessness, forgiveness, presence, acceptance, and contentment. Miller gathers inspiration from the ground beneath her feet to remind us that paradise is always here and now.
Paradox (The MIT Press Essential Knowledge Series)
by Margaret CuonzoAn introduction to paradoxes showing that they are more than mere puzzles but can prompt new ways of thinking. Thinkers have been fascinated by paradox since long before Aristotle grappled with Zeno's. In this volume in The MIT Press Essential Knowledge series, Margaret Cuonzo explores paradoxes and the strategies used to solve them. She finds that paradoxes are more than mere puzzles but can prompt new ways of thinking. A paradox can be defined as a set of mutually inconsistent claims, each of which seems true. Paradoxes emerge not just in salons and ivory towers but in everyday life. (An Internet search for “paradox” brings forth a picture of an ashtray with a “no smoking” symbol inscribed on it.) Proposing solutions, Cuonzo writes, is a natural response to paradoxes. She invites us to rethink paradoxes by focusing on strategies for solving them, arguing that there is much to be learned from this, regardless of whether any of the more powerful paradoxes is even capable of solution. Cuonzo offers a catalog of paradox-solving strategies—including the Preemptive-Strike (questioning the paradox itself), the Odd-Guy-Out (calling one of the assumptions into question), and the You-Can't-Get-There-from-Here (denying the validity of the reasoning). She argues that certain types of solutions work better in some contexts than others, and that as paradoxicality increases, the success of certain strategies grows more unlikely. Cuonzo shows that the processes of paradox generation and solution proposal are interesting and important ones. Discovering a paradox leads to advances in knowledge: new science often stems from attempts to solve paradoxes, and the concepts used in the new sciences lead to new paradoxes. As Niels Bohr wrote, “How wonderful that we have met with a paradox. Now we have some hope of making progress.”
Paradox
by Margaret CuonzoThinkers have been fascinated by paradox since long before Aristotle grappled with Zeno's. In this volume in The MIT Press Essential Knowledge series, Margaret Cuonzo explores paradoxes and the strategies used to solve them. She finds that paradoxes are more than mere puzzles but can prompt new ways of thinking. A paradox can be defined as a set of mutually inconsistent claims, each of which seems true. Paradoxes emerge not just in salons and ivory towers but in everyday life. (An Internet search for "paradox" brings forth a picture of an ashtray with a "no smoking" symbol inscribed on it.) Proposing solutions, Cuonzo writes, is a natural response to paradoxes. She invites us to rethink paradoxes by focusing on strategies for solving them, arguing that there is much to be learned from this, regardless of whether any of the more powerful paradoxes is even capable of solution. Cuonzo offers a catalog of paradox-solving strategies -- including the Preemptive-Strike (questioning the paradox itself), the Odd-Guy-Out (calling one of the assumptions into question), and the You-Can't-Get-There-from-Here (denying the validity of the reasoning). She argues that certain types of solutions work better in some contexts than others, and that as paradoxicality increases, the success of certain strategies grows more unlikely. Cuonzo shows that the processes of paradox generation and solution proposal are interesting and important ones. Discovering a paradox leads to advances in knowledge: new science often stems from attempts to solve paradoxes, and the concepts used in the new sciences lead to new paradoxes. As Niels Bohr wrote, "How wonderful that we have met with a paradox. Now we have some hope of making progress."
Paradox: Paradox (Central Problems Of Philosophy Ser. #12)
by Doris OlinParadoxes are more than just intellectual puzzles - they raise substantive philosophical issues and offer the promise of increased philosophical knowledge. In this introduction to paradox and paradoxes, Doris Olin shows how seductive paradoxes can be, why they confuse and confound, and why they continue to fascinate. Olin examines the nature of paradox, outlining a rigorous definition and providing a clear and incisive statement of what does and does not count as a resolution of a paradox. The view that a statement can be both true and false, that contradictions can be true, is seen to provide a challenge to the account of paradox resolution, and is explored. With this framework in place, the book then turns to an in-depth treatment of the Prediction Paradox, versions of the Preface/Fallibility Paradox, the Lottery Paradox, Newcomb's Problem, the Prisoner's Dilemma and the Sorites Paradox. Each of these paradoxes is shown to have considerable philosophical punch. Olin unpacks the central arguments in a clear and systematic fashion, offers original analyses and solutions, and exposes further unsettling implications for some of our most deep-seated principles and convictions.