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Thursday, July 8, 2021

Aporia Explained (Philosophy short definition from Plato to Derrida)

Aporia's best definition in Greek is "difficulty". Aporia is a term in the philosophical tradition that indicates an insurmountable contradiction, which ends in an insoluble conflict (Poros = way; A poros = lack of way). Aporia as a concept is repeated in post-structuralist critique. The philosopher Jacques Derrida sees aporia as a paradoxical term whose teaching is to block the very ability to move between boundaries, to define, to formulate. Aporia is a "no-way," a blind spot that blocks the field of vision; Difficulty in defining metaphysically what is.
Aristotle defines Aporia as an equality created between two conflicting arguments. In Plato, Aporia appears as part of the Socratic technique designed to bring the interlocutor to the realization of his ignorance: from a position of temporary ignorance one can present an alternative position leading to the right path. The dialectic of spirit, according to the wave, progresses from the impasse of the contradiction between thesis and antithesis to overcoming - synthesis. The post-Hegelian tradition continues this line of thinking and even radicalizes it. Now the Aporia marks the subjective place of contradiction, from which it is not possible to move towards a dialectical "overcoming" (Aufhebung).
In post-structuralist thought , Aporia marks a dead end in thinking, calling for a reformulation of the questions asked. Thus, for example, Heidegger tries to overcome the Aporia of the binary- object / subject contrast by proposing a third term, Dasein, which means being there , "being (the self) within the world." This condition does not completely eliminate the aphoria; He does not replace it with a new entry. In Derrida, the term is used to describe the disintegration of the sign , that is, the erosion of the meaning . In his book Aporias  (1993) he defines Aporia as "no man's land", where the inability to cross becomes the inability to create a formation, structure, project or marking boundaries.