A paradox can be defined as an unacceptable conclusion derived by apparently acceptable reasoning from apparently acceptable premises. Many paradoxes raise serious philosophical problems, and they are associated with crises of thought and revolutionary advances. The expanded and revised third edition of this intriguing book considers a range of knotty paradoxes including Zeno's paradoxical claim that the runner can never overtake the tortoise, a new chapter on paradoxes about morals, paradoxes about belief, and hardest of all, paradoxes about truth. The discussion uses a minimum of technicality but also grapples with complicated and difficult considerations, and is accompanied by helpful questions designed to engage the reader with the arguments. The result is not only an explanation of paradoxes but also an excellent introduction to philosophical thinking.
Author(s): Sainsbury, R. M. (Richard Mark)
Edition: 3
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Year: 2009
Language: English
Pages: vii, 182 p.
City: Cambridge
Tags: Logic, Paradox
Paradoxes
Copyright
Contents
Foreword to Third Edition
Introduction
Suggested Reading
1 Zeno’s paradoxes: space, time & motion
2 Moral paradoxes
3 Vagueness: the paradox of the heap
4 Acting rationally
5 Believing rationally
6 Classes & truth
7 Are any contradictions acceptable?
Appendixes
Appendix I: Some more paradoxes
Appendix II: Remarks on some textquestions & appended paradoxes
Bibliography
Index