The Sorites Paradox
One grain of sand is not a heap. Adding a single grain never turns a non-heap into a heap. So heaps do not exist.
c. 350 BCE20 min read
American analytic philosophy
Roy Sorensen
Philosopher at the University of Texas at Austin, and the author of the Stanford Encyclopedia entries on vagueness and on epistemic paradoxes. His book Blindspots (1988) introduced the idea of a proposition that is true but cannot consistently be believed by a particular person — which is exactly what the judge's sentence is for the condemned prisoner. He also defends epistemicism about vagueness.
2 entries
The Unexpected Hanging Paradox
A prisoner is told he will hang next week, on a day he cannot possibly predict. He proves it cannot happen. It happens.
1943 (in circulation), 1948 (first in print)21 min read