Once we assumed that reason and rationality would gradually uncover the truth. But from quantum mechanics to set theory, positivism to deconstruction, philosophical realism to philosophical relativism, paradox it seems is found at the heart of our most revered theories and at the cornerstones of our thought.
Are these paradoxes evidence that our theories are wrong and is it essential that they are overcome? Will we one day find our way out of the hall of mirrors if we reason hard enough? Or should we accept that paradox is an unavoidable consequence of human thought, and a hint of the greater world that lies beyond the limitations of human understanding.
Live from Ljubljana, philosopher and cultural critic Slavoj Žižek joins Oxford and Keele metaphysician Sophie Allen and post-realist philosopher and author of Reflexivity: the postmodern predicament Hilary Lawson to ask why paradox just won't go away.
In association with Aeon