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Exercise 1284Logic, sets and proofs › Quantifiers and negationL1Added 4 Nov 2026

The barber's paradox

#self-reference#paradox#implication

Statement

A village barber shaves all the men of the village who do not shave themselves, and only those. Does the barber shave himself?

Hint

Let pp be the proposition "the barber shaves all men who do not shave themselves, and only those", and qq the proposition "the barber shaves himself". Show pp leads to a contradiction via (p∧q)⇒qˉ(p\land q)\Rightarrow\bar q and (p∧qˉ)⇒q(p\land\bar q)\Rightarrow q.

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Solution

Analysis. If the barber shaves himself (qq), then by the rule (pp) he must belong to the set of men who do not shave themselves, i.e. qˉ\bar q: (p∧q)⇒qˉ(p\land q)\Rightarrow\bar q. If he does not shave himself (qˉ\bar q), then by the rule he must shave himself, i.e. qq: (p∧qˉ)⇒q(p\land\bar q)\Rightarrow q.

Contradiction. These two implications imply that pp is false: no such barber exists.

Conclusion. The premise pp is self-contradictory; the barber does not exist.