A paradox is a self contradictory statement or situation. It's a logical process, in which the facts appear to be opposed to themselves.

Paradox is a recognized philosophical tool for argument to assess groups of valid facts or logical processes which appear to be conflicting directly. The problem with paradoxes is that each fact is known to be true. It can also relate to opinions, where the statement is based on an assertion. Example:

This is the beginning of the end. Please ignore the notice. A man drowned in the fountain of eternal life. Advertisement: If you are illiterate, then write to us and we will send you a free of charge instruction booklet on how to read. They must go to war to make peace. I can resist anything except temptation. Freedom is not doing what you want, freedom is wanting to do what you have to dothis kind of freedom is always rooted in practiced habit. Northrop Frye.

Irony is a figure of speech in which an expression means something the opposite of or very contrary to its literal meaning. Example: In an effort to restrict viewership of a morally offensive movie, the city council bans exhibition of the movie in theatres. By banning the movie, the city council creates such a heightened awareness of the movie, that more people download and view pirated copies of the movie over the internet - specifically because it was banned - than would have viewed it in the theatres to begin with.