15 May 2015

aporia

[uh-pawr-ee-uh, uh-pohr-]

noun, plural aporias, aporiae [uh-pawr-ee-ee, uh-pohr-]
1. Rhetoric. the expression of a simulated or real doubt, as about where to begin or what to do or say.
2. Logic, Philosophy. a difficulty encountered in establishing the theoretical truth of a proposition, created by the presence of evidence both for and against it.

Origin of aporia
Late Latin
1580-1590; < Late Latin < Greek: state of being at a loss, equivalent to ápor (os) impassable (see a-6, pore2) + -ia -ia

Dictionary.com

Examples from the web for aporia
– Often Socratic conversation induces utter confusion—the ancient Greek word is aporia —and ends with no clear solution to a problem.
(The Ivy League Provides the Best Trade Schools Around Nick Romeo August 16, 2014)

Today’s quote

Believe when you are most unhappy, that there is something for you to do in the world. So long as you can sweeten another’s pain, life is not in vain.

– Helen Keller

On this day

15 May – The Nakba (Day of the Catastrophe), Palestine – commemoration of the displacement of more than 700,000 Palestinians and the depopulation and destruction of at least 400 villages during the establishment of Israel in 1948.

15 May 1970 – At Jackson State University in Mississippi, police open fire on students who were protesting against the Vietnam and Cambodian Wars, killing two and injuring twelve.