Noun

(en noun)

(Zen Buddhism) A story about a Zen master and his student, sometimes like a riddle, other times like a fable, which has become an object of Zen study, and which, when meditated upon, may unlock mechanisms in the Zen student’s mind leading to satori.

* 1979 , Douglas R. Hofstadter,

Achilles: Let me tell you a k?an about an imitator.

*:: Zen master Gutei raised his finger whenever he was asked a question about Zen. A young novice began to imitate him in this way. When Gutei was told about the novice’s imitation, he sent for him and asked him if it were true. The novice admitted it was so. Gutei asked him if he understood. In reply the novice held up his index finger. Gutei promptly cut it off. The novice ran from the room, howling in pain. As he reached the threshold, Gutei called, “Boy!” When the novice turned, Gutei raised his index finger. At that instant the novice was enlightened.

A riddle with no solution, used to provoke reflection on the inadequacy of logical reasoning, and to lead to enlightenment.

* 1973 , (Thomas Pynchon), Gravity’s Rainbow

Gibberish. Or else a koan that Achtfaden isn’t equipped to master, a transcendent puzzle that could lead him to some moment of light.

* 2001 , (Joyce Carol Oates), Middle Age : A Romance (Fourth Estate, paperback edition, 303)

As always the koan “Why, Why am I here, why here” begins in her head, but she beats it back like a housewife with a broom.

Noun

(es)

A self-contradictory statement, which can only be true if it is false, and vice versa.

"This sentence is false" is a paradox .

* {{quote-book, 1962, Abraham Wolf, Textbook of Logic, page=255 citation

, passage=According to one version of an ancient paradox , an Athenian is supposed to say "I am a liar." It is then argued that if the statement is true, then he is telling the truth, and is therefore not a liar

A counterintuitive conclusion or outcome.

It is an interesting paradox that drinking a lot of water can often make you feel thirsty.

* 1983 May 21, (Ronald Reagan), "",

The most fundamental paradox is that if we're never to use force, we must be prepared to use it and to use it successfully.

A claim that two apparently contradictory ideas are true.(jump)

Not having a fashion is a fashion; that's a paradox .

* {{quote-book, 1879, , The Complete Plays of Gilbert and Sullivan], year_published=1941, chapter=[[w:The Pirates of Penzance, The Pirates of Penzance]

, passage=How quaint the ways of Paradox ! / At common sense she gaily mocks! / Though counting in the usual way years twenty-one I've been alive, / Yet reck'ning by my natal day, / Yet reck'ning by my natal day, / I am a little boy of five!}}

A person or thing having contradictory properties.

He is a paradox ; you would not expect him in that political party.

* {{quote-book, 1999, Virginia Henley, A Year and a Day citation

, passage=You are a paradox of bitch and angel.}}

An unanswerable question or difficult puzzle, particularly one which leads to a deeper truth.

* {{quote-book, 1994, James Joseph Pirkl, Transgenerational Design, page=3 citation

, passage=And only by dismantling our preconceptions of age can we be free to understand the paradox : How young are the old?}}

(obsolete) A statement which is difficult to believe, or which goes against general belief.

* {{quote-book, 1594, William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, section=

, passage=Ay, truly; for the power of beauty will sooner / transform honesty from what it is to a bawd than the / force of honesty can translate beauty into his / likeness: this was sometime a paradox , but now the / time gives it proof. }}

* 1615 , Ralph Hamor, A True Discourse of the Present State of Virginia , Richmond 1957, p. 3

they contended to make that Maxim'', that there is no faith to be held with Infidels, a meere and absurd ''Paradox [...].

(uncountable) The use of counterintuitive or contradictory statements (paradoxes) in speech or writing.

* {{quote-book, 1906, (Richard Holt Hutton), Brief Literary Criticisms, page=40 citation

, passage=The need for paradox is no doubt rooted deep in the very nature of the use we make of language. }}

(uncountable, philosophy) A state in which one is logically compelled to contradict oneself.

* {{quote-book, 1866, Edward Poste, Aristotle on Fallacies, Or, The Sophistici Elenchi, page=43 citation

, passage=Thus, like modern disputants, they aimed either to confute the respondent or to land him in paradox . }}

(uncountable, psychotherapy) The practice of giving instructions that are opposed to the therapist's actual intent, with the intention that the client will disobey or be unable to obey.(jump)

* {{quote-book, 1988, Martin Lakin, Ethical Issues in the Psychotherapies, page=103 citation

, passage=Defiance-based paradox is employed so that the family will actively oppose and deliberately sabotage the prescription. }}