In philosophy and logic, the liar paradox or liar's paradox (pseudomenon in Ancient Greek) is the statement "this sentence is false." Trying to assign to this statement a classical binary truth value leads to a contradiction (see paradox).
If "this sentence is false" is true, then the sentence is false, which would in turn mean that it is actually true, but this would mean that it is false, and so on ad infinitum.
Similarly, if "this sentence is false" is false, then the sentence is true, which would in turn mean that it is actually false, but this would mean that it is true, and so on ad infinitum.
Read more about Liar Paradox: History, Explanation of The Paradox and Variants, Logical Structure of The Liar Paradox, In Popular Culture
Famous quotes containing the words liar and/or paradox:
“Sir, you have tasted two whole worms; you have hissed all my mystery lectures and been caught fighting a liar in the quad; you will leave by the next town drain.”
—William A. Spooner (1844–1930)
“To make advice agreeable, try paradox or rhyme.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)