Thread View: sci.logic
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Started by Michael Hand
Fri, 18 Dec 1992 18:40
Re: Liar paradox
Author: Michael Hand
Date: Fri, 18 Dec 1992 18:40
Date: Fri, 18 Dec 1992 18:40
27 lines
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1679 bytes
Titus 1:12. One of themselves, a prophet of their own, said, "Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons." So far, Paul hasn't himself uttered anything paradoxical, he's only reported a potentially paradoxical utterance. The Cretan's own claim is ambiguous (at least in this translation). The "always" could be the one used by Russell in "On Denoting", not a quantifier over times, as is usual, but over individuals. As Russell says C(everything) means "C(x) is always true" Paul may merely mean to ensure that "Cretans" is read as a universal. On the other hand, he may indeed mean "always" to quantify over times, leaving it understood that he means *all* Cretans (as opposed to *typical* Cretans, as when we say that dogs have four legs). This reading is paradoxical, given the added assumption that if someone is *always* a liar then s/he *never* tells the truth. On the third hand, if one lie makes the speaker a liar forever, then there again is no paradox. B-o} Michael -- _______________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Michael Hand phone (409)845-5660, fax (409)845-0458 Dept of Philosophy, Texas A&M Univ, College Station TX 77843-4237 U.S.A.
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