Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book discusses the oxymoron, enantiosis and paradox into the new category of essentially oxymoronic concepts, which the author have deliberately created in homage to an article by Walter B. Gallie, titled "Essentially Contested Concepts", published in 1956. It explains that essentially oxymoronic concepts evolved from their contested counterparts. Generally speaking, they mark a shift of human culture from contestation and conflict to contradiction and convergence. By contrast, the dawning era of contradiction and convergence inaugurated by oxymoronic concepts may be one where the conflicts are simultaneously present in every person exposed to the concepts. The necessity of establishing a global law supported by a more efficient and just global institutional framework is recognized by the global governance debate. The book contributes to, namely a better understanding of the cognitive challenges that law in the time of oxymora faces.