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The 'Liar's Paradox' was first known as the Epimenidis Paradox.
Epimenidis said that "all Cretans are liars."
The Liar's Paradox points to the elusive nature of truth.
It says;
"I am now telling a lie"
If true, then false; if false then true.
But if we turn that around, and say;
"I am now telling a truth"
If true then true, if false then false.
Then the statement doesn't really say much in and of itself.
Some may believe it to be true, others believe it to be false.
This leads us to examine the different kinds of truth - a truth where the statement corresponds to a fact out there in the world; a statement that reflects a certain state of affairs etc., etc.,
But even then, we know from propaganda, historical revisionism etc. that it is not always easy to establish facts and the like to everybody's satisfaction.
This brings in the idea of perspective, and the sense that truth is never really absolute, but always relative to an extent.
"There are no GLOBAL truths" [notice something about this statement?]
I may FEEL to the roots of my being that something is true - but I could be wrong.
Liars pass truth-tests because they convince themselves that they are telling the truth ... and are we all not liars to an extent?
Truth is far more elusive than the lie ...
Life IS a lie in the main
But then I have just stated a series of 'truths' about the lie, and so have entered once more into the Liar's Paradox.
It says;
"I am now telling a lie"
If true, then false; if false then true.
But if we turn that around, and say;
"I am now telling a truth"
If true then true, if false then false.
Then the statement doesn't really say much in and of itself.
Some may believe it to be true, others believe it to be false.
This leads us to examine the different kinds of truth - a truth where the statement corresponds to a fact out there in the world; a statement that reflects a certain state of affairs etc., etc.,
But even then, we know from propaganda, historical revisionism etc. that it is not always easy to establish facts and the like to everybody's satisfaction.
This brings in the idea of perspective, and the sense that truth is never really absolute, but always relative to an extent.
"There are no GLOBAL truths" [notice something about this statement?]
I may FEEL to the roots of my being that something is true - but I could be wrong.
Liars pass truth-tests because they convince themselves that they are telling the truth ... and are we all not liars to an extent?
Truth is far more elusive than the lie ...
Life IS a lie in the main
But then I have just stated a series of 'truths' about the lie, and so have entered once more into the Liar's Paradox.
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Self-deception is constantly practiced; from the most overt strong self-lies [paedophiles, for example, rarely will accept that they *are* paedophilies], to the little white self-deceptive things that we tell ourselves [I am handsome/ugly; or I didn't/did really hurt that person etc.,].
Human consciousness consists in a whole range of self-serving lies to oneself.
We begin by telling lies to ourselves about ourselves from childhood because we *need* to do that to remain stable, secure; that is how we get so practiced in telling lies so that we can then lie to others.
Indeed, I would say that people tell more lies to themselves than they do to others.
All in all, then, life is a web of deceit; as Nietzsche said:
'Life is in Love with the Lie'.
And how many Lies are told [to oneself and to the Other] in Love?
Going further, perhaps amnesia is a form of telling lies to oneself.
When human beings are shocked, fearful, frightened etc., - they quickly resort to the self lie.
Confidence tricksters, conjurors, stage-magicians all know how easy it is to get people to *lie to themselves*.
That is the best way to deceive - far superior than telling lies to them yourself.
Are reports of psychic phenomena a form of lying to oneself?
UFO abduction stories?
Or how about religious/mystic visions?
In many cases we are in the realm of "false memory syndrome".
How many people convinced themselves that they were victims when they weren't?
They lied to themselves so much that they began to believe it.
Self-Fantasy is *very* seductive; and can be lucrative.
And so on.
As to perspective; I suggest that all our truths are derived via our personal'social perspectives and are therefor 'coloured' by our perceiving them; they are 'our' truths.
That we may share them with many others has more to do with the commonality of consciousness and language than of the intrinsic 'truth' of Life [consciousness and language evolved as the need for communication evolved].
The liar's paradox just points to the insufficiency of language to present 'unvarnished truth'.
This is not surprising when language was forged in the main to tell lies [to oneself and others].
Yes, language was a means to decieve - very necessary in the harsh conditions of primitive life where one is in constant danger of 'giving oneself away'.
That 'the lie' is so profound is adverted in that its intrinsic meaning from its Indo-European or Aryan root remains unchanged;
IE Root:*'Leugh-' ; To tell a lie.
1a. warlock, from Old English leogan, to lie; b. belie, f. OE beleogan, to deceive [both f. Germanic *leugan.
2. Lie, f. OE lyge, a lie, a falsehood, f. Germanic *lugiz.
Human consciousness consists in a whole range of self-serving lies to oneself.
We begin by telling lies to ourselves about ourselves from childhood because we *need* to do that to remain stable, secure; that is how we get so practiced in telling lies so that we can then lie to others.
Indeed, I would say that people tell more lies to themselves than they do to others.
All in all, then, life is a web of deceit; as Nietzsche said:
'Life is in Love with the Lie'.
And how many Lies are told [to oneself and to the Other] in Love?
Going further, perhaps amnesia is a form of telling lies to oneself.
When human beings are shocked, fearful, frightened etc., - they quickly resort to the self lie.
Confidence tricksters, conjurors, stage-magicians all know how easy it is to get people to *lie to themselves*.
That is the best way to deceive - far superior than telling lies to them yourself.
Are reports of psychic phenomena a form of lying to oneself?
UFO abduction stories?
Or how about religious/mystic visions?
In many cases we are in the realm of "false memory syndrome".
How many people convinced themselves that they were victims when they weren't?
They lied to themselves so much that they began to believe it.
Self-Fantasy is *very* seductive; and can be lucrative.
And so on.
As to perspective; I suggest that all our truths are derived via our personal'social perspectives and are therefor 'coloured' by our perceiving them; they are 'our' truths.
That we may share them with many others has more to do with the commonality of consciousness and language than of the intrinsic 'truth' of Life [consciousness and language evolved as the need for communication evolved].
The liar's paradox just points to the insufficiency of language to present 'unvarnished truth'.
This is not surprising when language was forged in the main to tell lies [to oneself and others].
Yes, language was a means to decieve - very necessary in the harsh conditions of primitive life where one is in constant danger of 'giving oneself away'.
That 'the lie' is so profound is adverted in that its intrinsic meaning from its Indo-European or Aryan root remains unchanged;
IE Root:*'Leugh-' ; To tell a lie.
1a. warlock, from Old English leogan, to lie; b. belie, f. OE beleogan, to deceive [both f. Germanic *leugan.
2. Lie, f. OE lyge, a lie, a falsehood, f. Germanic *lugiz.
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