The Liar's Paradox: Propositions and Contradictions
The Liar's paradox is a well known conundrum to anyone with a general knowledge of philosophical topics. You are probably already familiar with the paradox and may not even realize it. Take the proposition, "this sentence is a lie." If this proposition is true, then it is true that it is a lie, which makes it false; yet, if this proposition is false, then it is true because it is true that the proposition is false, etc. The truth of this proposition entails its falsity and its falsity entails its truth, meaning that it is both true and false simultaneously. The point of the paradox is to call into question the validity of the Law of Noncontradiction, a classical law of thought which states that a proposition cannot be both true and false in the same sense or at the same time, by providing an exception to it. But is this truly an exception? I contend that it is not. There are two responses to the paradox that I am familiar with. One is to say...