Ten Paradoxes

The "Ten Paradoxes" are a collection of philosophical puzzles attributed to Hui Shi, a Chinese philosopher from the 4th century BCE. Hui Shi was a prominent figure in the school of dialecticians, known for their focus on paradoxes and linguistic puzzles, which set them apart from the mainstream of Chinese philosophy that emphasized ethics and governance.1

Hui Shi's paradoxes are noted for their similarity to those of the Greek philosopher Zeno of Elea. While his writings are lost, his "Ten Paradoxes" are preserved in the Daoist work Zhuangzi. These paradoxes often stem from a relativistic view of space and time, questioning concepts like size and boundaries. For example, one paradox states that "the greatest has nothing within itself and is called the great unit, the smallest has nothing within itself and is called the small unit". These ideas highlight a philosophical tradition in China that explored complex concepts of knowledge, language, and the nature of reality, often through dialectical reasoning.123