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A paradox can be defined as an unacceptable conclusion derived by apparently acceptable reasoning from apparently acceptable premises. Many paradoxes raise serious philosophical problems, and they are associated with crises of thought and revolutionary advances. The expanded and revised third edition of this intriguing book considers a range of knotty paradoxes including Zenos paradoxical claim that the runner can never overtake the tortoise, a new chapter on paradoxes about morals, paradoxes about belief, and hardest of all, paradoxes about truth. The discussion uses a minimum of technicality but also grapples with complicated and difficult considerations, and is accompanied by helpful questions designed to engage the reader with the arguments. The result is not only an explanation of paradoxes but also an excellent introduction to philosophical thinking.
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Paradoxes A paradox can be defined as an unacceptable conclusion derived by apparently acceptable reasoning from apparently acceptable premises. Unlike party puzzles or brain teasers, many paradoxes raise serious philosophical problems, and they are associated with crises of thought and revolutionary advances. The expanded and revised third edition of this intriguing book considers a range of knotty paradoxes, including Zeno’s paradoxical claim that the runner can never overtake the tortoise, a new chapter on paradoxes about morals, paradoxes about belief, and, hardest of all, paradoxes about truth. The discussion uses a minimum of technicality but also grapples with complicated and difficult considerations, and is accompanied by helpful questions designed to engage the reader with the arguments. The result is not only an explanation of paradoxes but also an excellent introduction to philosophical thinking. R. M. Sa i n s b u r y is a Professor in the Department of Philosophy, University of Texas at Austin. He was editor of the journal Mind for a decade from 1990 and his many publications include Reference Without Referents (2005, 2007) and Logical Forms, 2nd edn (2000). Paradoxes THIRD EDITION R. M. Sainsbury CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 8RU, UK Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521896320 © R. M. Sainsbury 2009 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provision of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published in print format 2009 . . ISBN-13 978-0-521-89632-0 ISBN-13 978-0-521-72079-3 hardback paperback Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of urls for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate. Contents Foreword to third edition 1. 2. 3. 4. page vii Introduction 1 Suggested reading 3 Zeno’s paradoxes: space, time, and motion 4 1.1 Introduction 1.2 Space 1.3 The Racetrack 1.4 The Racetrack again 1.5 Achilles and the Tortoise 1.6 The Arrow Suggested reading 4 5 11 15 19 19 21 Moral paradoxes 22 2.1 Crime Reduction 2.2 Mixed Blessings 2.3 Not Being Sorry 2.4 Moral dilemmas Suggested reading 22 27 31 34 39 Vagueness: the paradox of the heap 40 3.1 Sorites paradoxes: preliminaries 3.2 Sorite