Philosophy Department

Paradoxes in Philosophy
(PHLU 3220)

B. Frances

A philosophical paradox usually consists of several ideas each of which seems clearly true and yet the ideas appear to be downright inconsistent with one another, so they can’t all be true. This invites intellectual discomfort. Are the claims all true? Then why is it that they look so clearly inconsistent? Or is at least one of the claims false? Then why is it that the false one looks obviously true to virtually anyone who has ever looked at it? No matter what the proper resolution of the paradox, we can see that it will require a fundamental and radical shift in our world-view. In this course we’ll examine some of the most intractable paradoxes in philosophy, the kind that keep philosophers --  and logicians and some scientists -- up at night: the liar paradox, the sorites paradox, paradoxes about infinity, and others. Students will have input on what paradoxes are investigated. This course is hard to pigeon-hole. We'll be doing some philosophy of language/logic, but depending on student interest, we might do free will/determinism, skepticism, or the problem of evil as well.  The course does not require that the student already know formal logic.

Escher: Ascending the Stairs