Aporetical

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Pertaining to the confusion arising from paradoxes, describing circumstances filled with contradictory aspects, and referring to inquiries that yield unresolved and conflicting dilemmas
2. Concerning situations or problems that involve contradictory or confusing elements that are difficult to resolve
3. Describing conditions marked by complex paradoxes that challenge understanding and create uncertainty

Etymology: "Aporetical" comes from the Greek "aporos," meaning "without a way out" or "impassable," formed from "a-" (not) and "poros" (passage, way). Greek philosophers used "aporia" for a state of puzzlement in which an argument seems to lead to contradictory conclusions, and Plato's dialogues are full of such impasses. Socrates often ends a discussion with his interlocutor unable to find a way forward, which is the sense the word preserves. The adjective "aporetical" is a later English formation built on that Greek root, using the suffix "-ical," which English attaches to many nouns and adjectives borrowed from Greek. Its meaning has drifted from the general idea of a dead end toward the more specific sense of something that is full of paradoxes or unresolvable puzzles, especially in philosophical argument.