aporia
- noun
- /əˈpɔːriə/
- Formal
- But certainly, one of the most distressing elements of our current aporia in the face of Islam's challenge is the inability of people to recognize the millennial and apocalyptic dynamics at work.
Examples
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During the debate, the candidate confronted an aporia when asked how to balance economic growth with environmental protection.
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Radical aporia raises its ugly head only in the lecture hall or the seminar room.
Academic text (1995) -
So I track this aporia between acknowledgement and avoidance, between giving warning and taking notice in the dream.
Academic text (2004) -
This is an interesting aporia for postmoderns to ponder.
Academic text (1993) -
Socrates' conversations characteristically end with bafflement or aporia and a promise to meet again, confident that the problem can be talked through.
Academic text (2005) -
On the basis of such reflections, it is not surprising that Einan's poems occasionally hesitate, that they become aware of the aporia: how can one attain the unattainable?
Academic text (1997) -
The philosopher experienced an aporia when faced with a question that had no straightforward answer.
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At the heart of their discussion lay an aporia that left both participants puzzled about how to proceed.
Synonyms
A feeling of doubt about whether something is true
A situation when you do not know what to do
A feeling of not understanding something that is hard to explain
Feeling confused because something is hard to understand
A feeling of doubt or low confidence
Antonyms
How Puzzled
Surface Forms
Etymology
Aporia comes from Greek parts a- meaning 'not' and poros meaning 'a way through', as in porous. So an aporia is a state of 'no way through', a puzzling doubt with no clear solution.