What is a Paradox? - AFSV00418

• Title: What is a Paradox?
• Guaranteed by: Institute of Philosophy and Religious Studies (21-UFAR)
• Faculty: Faculty of Arts
• Actual: from 2024
• Semester: summer
• Points: 0
• E-Credits: 5
• Examination process: summer s.:
• Hours per week, examination: summer s.:2/0, Ex [HT]
• Capacity: unknown / unknown (unknown)
• Min. number of students: unlimited
• 4EU+: no
• Virtual mobility / capacity: no
• State of the course: not taught
• Language: English
• Teaching methods: full-time
• Note: course can be enrolled in outside the study plan; enabled for web enrollment
• Guarantor: Cesare Cherchi

Aim of the course

The course’s aim is to explain and define the different kind of paradoxes by their structure and features, while also describing the logical and philosophical accounts, and solutions that arose in the last centuries. By the end of the course the students should have new means to face logical problems that arise in different philosophical topics.

Last update: Cherchi Cesare (29.01.2024)

Descriptors

What is a paradox? We often say that something is "paradoxical", but we rarely try to define the concept. The reality is that a paradox is not a well defined entity even in philosophy: we call a paradox a correct argument that gives us a surprising conclusion, a fallacious one that leads us to impossible, or sometimes even to surprisingly true, results, and finally – and most prominently – we call paradox an apparently correct line of reasoning that leads to a contradiction.

Last update: Cherchi Cesare (29.01.2024)

Literature

The course will consist in various pieces of literature supplied by the teacher every week. Anyway the main text followed during the semester will be:

Falletta, N., (1983) “The Paradoxicon”, Doubleday, New York.
Field, H., (2008) “Saving Truth from Paradoxes”, Oxford University Press, New York
Łukowski, P., (2011) “Paradoxes”, Springer, Dordrecht.
Sainsbury, R.M., (2009) “Paradoxes”, Cambridge University Press, New York.

Last update: Cherchi Cesare (02.02.2024)

Teaching methods

The course will consist in twelve seminars of ninety minutes each in which we will deal with the different topics according to the schedule by reading and discussing the material. The material will consist of relevant passages and articles taken from the relevant bibliography, and it will be provided by the teacher a week in advance.

Last update: Cherchi Cesare (29.01.2024)

Requirements to the exam

Active in-class participation and a short paper – between 2000 and 3000 words – are required to successfully complete the course. The topic of the paper, based on the material discussed in class, has to be previously agreed upon with the teacher.

Last update: Cherchi Cesare (02.02.2024)