Epimenides, the celebrated Greek poet, lived in Crete during the sixth century BC. A statement made by him is believed to be the oldest of logical paradoxes. He is reputed to have said:

"All Cretans are liars."

Do you see anything paradoxical about this statement?

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The paradox is best illustrated if one rewrites Epimenides' statement as:

"All statements by Cretans are false."

This elliminates questions about the nature of liars, such as whether a liar ALWAYS lies.

The argument can now be followed thus:

1) All statements by Cretans are false.
2) Statement 1) was made by a Cretan.
3) Therefore statement 1) is false.
4) Therefore all statements made by Cretans are not false.

Clearly statement 1) and 4) cannot both be true; they contradict one another. But, since statement 4) follows logically from statement 1), statement 1) can be seen to be self-contradictory, and thus paradoxical.

CONTINUE