PARADOX

Welcome to this lecture headed “PARADOX”. We will be discussing all about paradox. Enjoy your lecture.

The word Paradox is derived from the Greek word “paradoxon” and means contrary to expectations, existing belief or apparent opinion.

It is a declaration that looks self-contradictory or silly but may include a latent truth.

It is as well utilized to show an opinion or statement contrary to accepted traditional ideas.

A paradox is frequently utilized to make a reader think over an idea in innovative way.

It is something like a situation that is of two opposite things and that seems impossible but is in fact true or possible.

It can also be used to represent someone who does two things that appear to be opposite to each other or who has qualities that are contradictory or just to represent a statement that seems to say two opposite things but that may be true

A few logical paradoxes are known to be illogical arguments but are still helpful in promoting vital thinking.

A number of paradoxes have exposed errors in definitions taken to be rigorous, and have caused axioms of mathematics and logic to be re-examined.

One instance is Russell’s paradox, which questions whether a “list of all lists that do not hold themselves” would include itself, and illustrated that attempts to discover set theory on the identification of sets with properties or predicates were defective.

Others, like Curry’s paradox, are not yet determined.

Logical paradox

Widespread themes in paradoxes include self-reference, infinite regress, circular definitions, and confusion between various levels of abstraction.

Patrick Hughes specifies three laws of the paradox:

Self-reference

An instance is “This statement is false”, a structure of the liar paradox. The statement is referring to itself.

Another instance of self-reference is the question of whether the barber shaves himself in the barber paradox.

One additional instance would be “Is the answer to this question ‘No’?”

Contradiction

“This statement is false”; the statement cannot be false and true at the same time.

Another example of contradiction is if a man talking to a genie wishes that wishes couldn’t come true.

This contradicts itself because if the genie grants his wish, he did not grant his wish, and if he refuses to grant his wish, then he did indeed grant his wish, therefore making it impossible to either grant or not grant his wish because his wish contradicts itself.

Vicious circularity or never-ending relapse

“This statement is false”; if the statement is true, then the statement is false, thereby making the statement true.

Another example of vicious circularity is the following group of statements:

“The following sentence is true.”

“The previous sentence is false.”

Examples of Paradox

Your enemy’s friend is your enemy.

I am nobody.

It is a paradox that computers need maintenance so frequently, since they are meant to save people time.

As an actor, he’s a paradox – he loves being in the public eye but as well deeply values and protects his privacy.

A novel full of paradox

For the actors, the goal was a paradox: real emotion, produced on cue

“What a pity that youth must be wasted on the young.” – George Bernard Shaw

Wise fool

Truth is honey which is bitter.

“I can resist anything but temptation.” – Oscar Wilde

This is the beginning of the end.

Mozambique is a rich country of poor people. 

The following sentence is true. 

The above sentence is a lie. 

Please ignore the notice. 

The day of hanging will be a surprise. So, it can’t happen at all. 

The man who wrote such a stupid sentence cannot write at all. 

A man drowned in the fountain of eternal life. 

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Answer truthfully (yes or no) to the following question: Will the next word you say be “no”? 

They must go to war to make peace. 

To believe with certainty we must begin with doubting. – King Stanislaw II. 

I can resist anything except temptation. 

Freedom is not doing what you want, freedom is wanting to do what you have to do…this kind of freedom is always rooted in practiced habit. – Northrop Frye. 

God exists. None of the sentences in this pair is true. 

Deep down, he’s really shallow.

From the above instances of paradox, we can say that paradox produces a humorous effect on the readers due to the fact of its ludicrousness.

Examples of Paradox in Literature

In literature, paradox is not merely a clever or comical statement or use of words.

Paradox has grave implication due to the fact that it makes statements that frequently summarize the major themes of the work they are used in.

Let us examine a few paradox examples from a few famous literary works:

For instance:

In George Orwell’s Animal Farm, one part of the cardinal rule is the statement,

“All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others”.

This statement seems to not make any sense. Nevertheless, on closer assessment, it becomes clear that Orwell points out a political truth.

The government in the novel claims that everyone is equal but it has never treated everyone equally.

It is the concept of equality stated in this paradox that is opposite to the regular belief of equality.

In the famous play of Shakespeare, Hamlet, the protagonist Hamlet says,

“I must be cruel to be kind.”

This announcement does not appear to make sense. How can an individual treat others compassionately even when he is cruel?

Though, Hamlet is talking about his mother, and how he intends to kill Claudius to avenge his father’s death.

This act of Hamlet will be a tragedy for his mother who is married to Claudius.

Hamlet does not want his mother to be the beloved of his father’s murderer any more, and thus thinks that the murder will be good for his mother.

An extract from Shakespeare’s “The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet”:

The earth that’s nature’s mother is her tomb;

What is her burying grave, that is Rainbow in her womb;

The opposing ideas of the earth being the birthplace and a graveyard make these lines paradoxical.

An extract from the short lyric “My Heart Leaps Up When I Behold” by William Wordsworth remembers the joys of his past and says:

“Child is father of the man”

This statement has apparently incorrect proposition but when we look deep into its meaning, we observe the truth.

The poet is saying that the childhood experiences become the foundation for all adult happenings.

The childhood of a person determines how his life will be and as a result “fathers” or produces the grown-up adult. Thus, “Child is father of the man.”

Uses of Paradox

The above reading might bring out the question, “Why is paradox used when a message can be conveyed in a straightforward and simple manner?”

The answer lies in the nature and purpose of literature. One instance of literature is to make the readers get pleasure from reading.

Readers enjoy more when they extract the hidden meanings out of the writing instead of something offered to them in an uncomplicated manner.

Therefore, the chief purpose of a paradox is to give contentment.

In poetry, paradox is not only used for humor and pleasure; instead it is an essential section of poetic diction.

Poets normally utilize a paradox to produce a notable thought or image out of words.

A few types of types of paradox in poetry are meant to communicate a tone of irony to its readers and in addition guide their thoughts to the immediate subject.

Paradox in majority of poems usually tries to produce feelings of deception and interest in readers’ minds to make them think deeper and harder to take pleasure in the real message of the poem.

Thanks for reaching to this point marking the end of this lecture.

Your Lecture Master:

Mst. Ugonwanne Joshua