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Volume 26, Issue 2-3
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Abstract

Abstract

Most discussions frame the Liar Paradox as a formal logical-linguistic puzzle. Attempts to resolve the paradox have focused very little so far on aspects of cognitive psychology and processing, because semantic and cognitive-psychological issues are generally assumed to be disjunct. I provide a motivation and carry out a cognitive-computational treatment of the liar paradox based on a model of language and conceptual knowledge within the (PP) framework. I suggest that the paradox arises as a failure of synchronization between two ways of generating the liar situation in two different (idealized) PP sub-models, one corresponding to language processing and the other to the processing of meaning and world-knowledge. In this way, I put forward the claim that the liar sentence is meaningless but has an air of meaningfulness. I address the possible objection that the proposal violates the , which purportedly regulates the conceptual competence of thinkers.

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2021-02-12
2024-12-07

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  • Article Type: Research Article
Keyword(s): Liar Paradox; Predictive Processing; Semantic Paradox; Unrestricted Compositionality; Yablo Paradox

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