I am a liar. I know this to be true. Yet if it is true, then I am lying that I am a liar, thus I am not a liar. So it must be false. But if my statement is false, and I am not a liar, then my statement that I am a liar is a lie and I am lying.
So, maybe I am a liar, maybe I am not. But the statement itself can never prove or disprove that I am or am not.
This sentence is a variation on the liar’s paradox, which goes: “Epimenides … [Read more...]