Contradictions And Paradoxes

Anything logically possible falls into at least one of three categories: 1) it is true in reality, 2) it could have been true, or 3) it could become true in the future.  Logic is the tool that illuminates possibilities and separates the possible from the impossible.  However, sometimes a thing might seem impossible but prove entirely possible if one assesses it further.

A contradiction is something intrinsically impossible, like someone simultaneously being married to someone else and not being married at all.  You might notice a contradiction if someone tells you a story about their past but then adds a detail that conflicts with an earlier statement.  There is no way that a contradiction can be true in any possible world.  Nothing at all can render one true.  A paradox, as opposed to a contradiction, only might seem impossible upon a superficial examination, but a deeper analysis reveals that nothing is actually impossible about the situation or claim.

Some examples of paradoxes might be useful here.  A person can love and hate something or someone at the same time, though some might mistake this for a logical impossibility--meaning they don't grasp the conceptual meaning of the terms.  Some might think that a deity cannot have foreknowledge of future human behaviors if humans make uncoerced decisions of their own free will, but they, too, would misjudge this to be a contradiction.  If God predestines every human action, then free will is impossible; but it he foreknows them, nothing about human free will is challenged at all.  When people understand the concepts expressed by these words, they will recognize that nothing I have said in this paragraph is impossible.

The importance of identifying contradictions lies in the fact that if something truly is a contradiction, and not merely perceived as one, then it cannot be true and one can dismiss it from consideration with simplicity and certainty.  If a thing does not contradict itself or some other fact, it remains, at the very least, possible, and other information is required to disprove it.

Distinguishing between contradictions and paradoxes might call for slow, deliberate contemplation for some people, since paradoxes can appear like contradictions.  But logic makes the distinction easy to detect for those who understand its laws.  A right comprehension of the difference will avert possible confusion, streamline use of critical thinking, and prove rewarding to those who want knowledge of reality.