The article describes what a paradox is, their examples are given and their most frequent varieties are considered.
Paradox
With the development of science, directions such as, for example, logic and philosophy appeared in it. They relate to a number of humanitarian ones, and at first glance it might seem that, unlike the disciplines that study the world around us (biology, physics, chemistry), they are not so significant. However, it is not. True, people most often associate these disciplines with paradoxes of various kinds, which is partially true. But in fairness it is worth mentioning that paradoxes as such are found in other areas of science. So what is a paradox and what can it be? This we will understand.
Definition
The very word "paradox" came from the ancient Greek language. Which is quite logical, because it is precisely the times of the Roman Empire and Ancient Greece that are considered the dawn of such sciences as logic and philosophy, which deal with paradoxes most often. So what is a paradox?
The concept has several similar definitions. For example, in everyday understanding, a paradox is a situation that can exist in reality, but without a logical explanation at all, or its essence is very difficult to perceive and blurred.
If we consider the meaning of this word in logic, then this is a formal logical contradiction, which becomes such due to some special or unusual conditions. Now we know what logical paradoxes are.
Essence
If we consider this concept in a broad sense, then it is usually understood as judgments, statements and other situations that strongly disagree with the usual opinion and seem objectively or subjectively very illogical. True, logic gradually appears if you start to analyze the subject of discussion in more detail. But at the same time, it is important to remember - in contrast to the aphorism, the paradox strikes precisely with unexpectedness and a clear logical component.
But let us consider in more detail the paradoxes in logic.
Logics
In short, the logical paradox is a kind of contradiction, which takes the form of a concrete, clear and logically correct conclusion, but at the same time it is a reasoning that leads to the formation of two or more conclusions that are mutually exclusive. So now we know what a paradox is.
There are also several varieties of logical paradoxes - aporia and antinomy.
The latter is characterized by the presence of two judgments that contradict each other, but both of them are equally provable.
Aporia is expressed by the presence of an argument or several arguments that strongly contradict common sense, the usual opinion of the public, or something else obvious. And these arguments are clear and provable.
The science
In the sciences that use logic as one of the tools of cognition, sometimes there are situations when researchers encounter theoretical contradictions or contradictions that emerged from the corollary of a theory with the verbal, practical result of a particular experience. True, this is not always a pure paradox, sometimes it happens as a result of common mistakes, imperfections of current knowledge, methods of obtaining them or inaccuracy of tools.
Nevertheless, the presence of a paradox has always been an additional incentive to understand in more detail the seemingly obvious theory and some of its supposedly obvious evidence. Sometimes this led to the fact that even well-established and clear theories underwent a complete revision. Now we know the essence of such a thing as a paradox. Some examples will be discussed below.
Photometric paradox
It belongs to the category of cosmological. Its meaning lies in the question of why it is dark at night, if all the infinite cosmic space is filled with light-emitting stars? If this is so, then at every point of the night sky there will certainly be some distant star, and it will definitely not be black.
True, this paradox was resolved over time. For this, it is necessary to take into account the finite age of the Universe and the finiteness of the speed of light, which means that part of the Universe that is available for viewing will necessarily be limited by the so-called particle horizon.
In logic and philosophy
Similar paradoxes of life have been encountered by many people, both in everyday thoughts and in various books and textbooks. For example, one of the most popular is the paradox of God. After all, if we assume that he is omnipotent, is he able to create a stone that he himself will not be able to budge?
The second, also found very often, is based on philosophy. Its meaning is that people almost never value what they have, and begin to appreciate only after a loss.
As you can see, paradoxes are very multifaceted phenomena that exist in various fields of science and life.