Paradoxer

Paradoxer is the plural form of paradox in Swedish and several other languages; in English, the common plural is paradoxes. The term is used in academic and literary contexts when referring to multiple paradoxes, or to discuss paradoxical ideas as a category.

A paradox is a statement or situation that appears self-contradictory or logically unacceptable, yet may reveal an underlying truth or invite careful analysis. Paradoxes challenge ordinary assumptions and often expose limits in theories of truth, knowledge, language, or mathematics. They can arise from self-reference, ambiguous definitions, or inconsistent sets of premises.

Paradoxer, as a topic, encompasses several types of paradoxes. Logical paradoxes involve contradictions that emerge from formal systems, such as Russell’s paradox in naive set theory or the barber paradox. Semantic paradoxes concern truth and meaning, exemplified by the Liar paradox: "This statement is false." Veridical and falsidical paradoxes concern cases where appearances fail to align with actual truth-value, while probabilistic or decision-theoretic paradoxes arise from seemingly rational reasoning that leads to counterintuitive outcomes.

Historically, paradoxes have driven developments in philosophy, logic, and mathematics. They have motivated revisions to logical theories, the introduction of type theory, and modern theories of truth and reference. While some paradoxes remain unresolved or debated, they serve as tools for probing assumptions and clarifying concepts.

See also paradox, paradoxes.