title: Why do we still call them "paradoxes"?
abstract: The fact that therapists label some events "paradoxical" may suggest that our current beliefs or theories are limited in their ability to adequately account for those phenomena. It is argued that our underlying belief in objectivity surrounds therapeutic "paradoxes" with a persistently paradoxical aura, and leads to confusion in our understanding of a variety of phenomena. Maturana's ideas regarding structure determinism, instructive interaction, and phenomenal domains are used to suggest an answer to these difficulties. It is claimed that the problematic status of many theoretical concepts (for example, communication, information, resistance, homeostasis, and pathology) is revealing of something quite important--that the experiential validity of instructive interaction repeatedly leads us into implicitly or explicitly employing instructive interaction in a domain where it can never be valid: the domain of theory and explanation.
mesh_terms: D003142:Communication; D004777:Environment; D006706:Homeostasis; D006801:Humans; D008128:Logic; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis; D011340:Problem Solving; D011582:Psychological Theory; D011613:Psychotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D012054:Reinforcement, Psychology; D012641:Selection, Genetic; D009626:Terminology as Topic