ABSTRACT
This introductory chapter delineates a nuanced understanding of paradox and in so doing distinguishes it from antinomies, apeiron, contradictions, dialectics, dichotomies, double-binds, dualities, fallacies, and wicked problems. Unlike these comparable concepts, it is proposed that in the case of a genuine paradox the key to understanding one position can only be fully realized by recourse to the counter-position. The principle ways in which the book marshals fresh analytical potential for paradox are then outlined; paradox is here framed as transcendent, pervasive, experiential, existential and—crucially—irresolvable.
