The Paradox of the Court, also known as the counterdilemma of Euathlus or Protagoras' paradox, is a paradox originating in ancient Greece.
The story is related by the Latin author Aulus Gellius in Attic Nights,[1] who says that the famous sophist Protagoras took on a promising pupil, Euathlus, on the understanding that the student pay Protagoras for his instruction after he wins his first court case. After instruction, Euathlus decided to not enter the profession of law, but to enter politics instead, and so Protagoras decided to sue Euathlus for the amount he is owed.[2] Protagoras argued that if he won the case, he would be paid his money. If Euathlus won the case, Protagoras would still be paid according to the original contract, because Euathlus would have won his first case. Euathlus, however, claimed that if he won, then by the court's decision he would not have to pay Protagoras. If, on the other hand, Protagoras won, then Euathlus would still not have won a case and would therefore not be obliged to pay. The question is then, which of the two men is in the right?
Gellius concludes:
"Then the jurors, thinking that the plea on both sides was uncertain and insoluble, for fear that their decision, for whichever side it was rendered, might annul itself, left the matter undecided and postponed the case to a distant day. Thus a celebrated master of oratory was refuted by his youthful pupil with his own argument, and his cleverly devised sophism failed."
^Aulus Gellius, Attic Nights, book 5, chapter 10.
^Mark, Joshua J. (January 18, 2012). "Protagoras's Paradox". World History Encyclopedia.
and 20 Related for: Paradox of the Court information
This list includes well known paradoxes, grouped thematically. The grouping is approximate, as paradoxes may fit into more than one category. This list...
A paradox is a logically self-contradictory statement or a statement that runs contrary to one's expectation. It is a statement that, despite apparently...
The Abilene paradox is a collective fallacy, in which a group of people collectively decide on a course of action that is counter to the preferences of...
The raven paradox, also known as Hempel's paradox, Hempel's ravens, or rarely theparadoxof indoor ornithology, is a paradox arising from the question...
The preparedness paradox is the proposition that if a society or individual acts effectively to mitigate a potential disaster such as a pandemic, natural...
The Antitrust Paradox is an influential 1978 book by Robert Bork that criticized the state of United States antitrust law in the 1970s. A second edition...
Hades, On Sciences, On Virtues, On the Original State of Things and Trial over a Fee. Anthropocentrism ParadoxoftheCourt Guthrie, p. 262–263. Silvermintz...
video game publisher, Paradox Interactive. It is best known for its grand strategy wargame series Europa Universalis, Hearts of Iron, Victoria, Crusader...
The European Courtof Human Rights (ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international courtofthe Council of Europe which interprets the...
The French paradox is an apparently paradoxical epidemiological observation that French people have a relatively low incidence of coronary heart disease...
The Cellophane paradox (also the Cellophane trap or Cellophane fallacy or gingerbread paradox) describes a type of incorrect reasoning used in market regulation...
The Supreme Courtof Pakistan (Urdu: عدالتِ عظمیٰ پاکستان; Adālat-e-Uzma Pākistān) is the apex court in the judicial hierarchy ofthe Islamic Republic...
strategy role-playing video game set in the Middle Ages, developed by Paradox Development Studio and published by Paradox Interactive as a sequel to Crusader...
competition law in the United States after publishing the influential essay "Amazon's Antitrust Paradox". President Joe Biden nominated Khan to the FTC in March...
Bayes's theorem. An example ofthe base rate fallacy is the false positive paradox (also known as accuracy paradox). This paradox describes situations where...
commentators have also argued for disqualification because of democratic backsliding, as well as theparadoxof tolerance, arguing that voters should not be able...
Burns, Fiona (2001). "The Courtof Chancery in the 19th century: a paradoxof decline and expansion". The University of Queensland Law Journal. 21 (2):...
BCE) of Miletus was a philosopher ofthe Megarian school who is famous for his paradoxes. According to Diogenes Laërtius, Eubulides was a pupil of Euclid...
Global Information