Paradoxes

(An asterisk before a title indicates that there is an observation on the entry in Appendix II.)

THE GALLOWS

The law of a certain land is that all who wish to enter the city are asked to state their business there. Those who reply truly are allowed to enter and depart in peace. Those who reply falsely are hanged. What should happen to the traveler who, when asked his business, replies, “I have come to be hanged”?

٭BURIDAN'S EIGHTH SOPHISM

Socrates in Troy says, “What Plato is now saying in Athens is false.” At the same time, Plato in Athens says, “What Socrates is now saying in Troy is false.” (Cf. Buridan, in Hughes 1982, pp. 73–9).

THE LAWYER

Protagoras, teacher of lawyers, has this contract with pupils: “Pay me a fee if and only if you win your first case.” One of his pupils, Euathlus, sues him for free tuition, arguing as follows: “If I win the case, then I win free tuition, as that is what I am suing for. If I lose, then my tuition is free anyway, since this is my first case.”

Protagoras, in court, responds as follows: “If you give judgment for Euathlus, then he will owe me a fee, since it is his first case and that was our agreement; if you give judgment for me, then he will owe me a fee, since that is the content of the judgment.