The paradox is a fact or a phrase that seems to oppose the principles of logic. The word comes from the Latin (paradox) which means ‘the opposite of common opinion’ . This literary figure is a literary resource widely used to create certain stories full of creativity and unique.
Contradictory elements intermingle in a paradox, although we cannot confuse it with the antithesis, which consists of the opposition of two elements or ideas. It is usually combined as a strong stimulus that leads to reflection and to develop analytical ideas or the understanding of abstract ideas.
For this reason, paradoxes are part of the philosophical or rhetorical terrain since they serve to put universal themes into analysis.
Types of paradoxes
There are several types of paradoxes that are often used in the literature and that are established with the conversation with two or more individuals.
- Conditionals: in this case, the paradox is used to serve as a question mark for the reader or the listener, since it creates a kind of opposing assumption: “Who was the chicken or the egg before?”
- Truthful: are those that, when heard or read for the first time, can be implausible, or absurd, which does not mean that they can be true. “Although saving is the source of prosperity, it is to the extent that it is not generalized.”
- Definition: it is a series of paradoxes that can give the concept of something, a situation or a place, which in its explanation is not really clear or is too ambiguous. «I like tall brown men, but I am with Juan who is short and blond».
- Anitomias: they are created through words that form their own contradiction. “You have to kill the murderers”, “I only know that I know nothing.”
Something paradoxical
There is also the concept of paradox to describe everyday life experiences, situations or events. These themselves contain an ironic, counterintuitive or unsolvable solution.
It is said, therefore, that a situation is paradoxical when we are immersed in conflicts whose resolution worsens or through the pursuit of these desires, they become unattainable.
Likewise, we usually find paradoxes of daily life, which are those where doing the obvious complicates much more what is supposed to solve the problem or conflict.
In this sense, classical philosophers like Plato used this literary figure to explain the world: “The wise man will always want to be with someone who is better than him.”
