liar paradox


Get Babylon's Translation Software! Free Download Now!

Wikipedia English The Free EncyclopediaDownload this dictionary

Liar paradox
In philosophy and logic, the liar paradox encompasses paradoxical statements such as:"I am lying now." or"This statement is false." or"The sentence below is false.""The sentence above is true."These statements are paradoxical because there is no way to assign them a consistent truth value. Consider that if "This statement is false" is true, then what it says is the case; but what it says is that it is false, hence it is false. On the other hand, if it is false, then what it says is not the case; thus, since it says that it is false, it must be true.
See more at Wikipedia.org...

This article uses material from Wikipedia® and is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License


FOLDOC DictionaryDownload this dictionary
liar paradox
<philosophy> A sentence which asserts its own falsity, e.g. "This sentence is false" or "I am lying". These paradoxical assertions are meaningless in the sense that there is nothing in the world which could serve to either support or refute them. Philosophers, of course, have a great deal more to say on the subject.
["The Liar: an Essay on Truth and Circularity", Jon Barwise and John Etchemendy, Oxford University Press (1987). ISBN 0-19-505944-1 (PBK), Library of Congress BC199.P2B37].
(1995-02-22)


(c) Copyright 1993 by Denis Howe

Define liar paradox

Translate liar paradox




liar paradox in Chinese | | liar paradox in French | liar paradox in Italian | liar paradox in Spanish | liar paradox in Dutch | liar paradox in Portuguese | liar paradox in German | liar paradox in Russian | liar paradox in Hebrew