The Pinocchio paradox

Peter Eldridge-Smith*, Veronique Eldridge-Smith

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalLetterpeer-review

11 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Extract:
The Liar paradox is intuitive. Having explained the Liar to my elder children some years ago, I asked them to come up with versions of their own. My son, Leif, then 13, suggested:

A policeman asks a suspect whether he is lying, and the criminal just says ‘Yes’.

One can see how this would work, and it is similar to a known version of the Liar originating with L. Jonathan Cohen.
After some time, my elder daughter, Veronique, then 11, devised the Pinocchio paradox. Pinocchio says ‘My nose will be growing’. Pinocchio’s nose grows, so the story tells us, whenever he tells a lie. The use of a future tense ties in with when Pinocchio’s nose is supposed to grow – after telling a lie. Philosophers will naturally want to know how soon afterwards. (There is an interesting version of the Epimenides though, if one does not restrict how soon Pinocchio’s nose should grow. Imagine Pinocchio says ‘My nose will grow’ but everything else Pinocchio says is true. Then, Pinocchio’s nose will grow if and only if it does not.)
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)212-215
Number of pages4
JournalAnalysis
Volume70
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Apr 2010

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'The Pinocchio paradox'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this