Epimenides Paradox
The first notable self-refuting idea is the Epimenides paradox, a statement attributed to Epimenides, a Cretan philosopher, that "All Cretans are liars". If interpreted as meaning "no Cretan ever speaks the truth," this cannot be true if uttered by a Cretan.
A more common example is the self-refuting statement "I am lying" (because the first statement allows the possibility "some Cretans do not speak the truth," the speaker being one of them). The second statement has no third alternative—the speaker's statement is either true or false.
Read more about this topic: Self-refuting Idea, Examples
Famous quotes containing the word paradox:
“A good aphorism is too hard for the teeth of time and is not eaten up by all the centuries, even though it serves as food for every age: hence it is the greatest paradox in literature, the imperishable in the midst of change, the nourishment which—like salt—is always prized, but which never loses its savor as salt does.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)