Crocodile's Dilemma

An unsolvable problem in logic dating back to the ancient Greeks and quoted, for example, by German philosopher Carl von Prantl (1855). The dilemma consists of a crocodile capturing a child and promising his father that he will release it provided that the man can tell in advance what the crocodile is going to do. The father says that the crocodile will not give

the child back. What should the crocodile do?

REFERENCES

Kleene, S. C. Introduction to Metamathematics. Princeton, NJ: Van Nostrand, p. 39, 1964.

von Prantl, C. Geschichte der Logik im Abendlande, Vol. 1. Leipzig, Germany: S. Hirzel, p. 493, 1855.