An aporia is a figure of speech that occurs when a speaker expresses doubt about his or her position or asks the audience rhetorically how he or she should proceed. Such doubt is often feigned.
Examples:
- What examples could I possibly use?
- How could I begin to describe the beauty of the desert?
It can also be used as a term to describe an impasse or insoluable contradiction in a text.
Plural is aporiae.
See Also