The Paradox of the Unexpected Hanging

The Paradox of the Unexpected Hanging presents a challenging logical puzzle: a judge announces to a condemned prisoner that he will be executed unexpectedly on a weekday, but the execution will occur neither on the day before nor the day after the verdict. The prisoner logically deduces that he cannot be executed at all—since any day he considers would make the execution expected or impossible—yet if the execution does occur, it would be unexpected. This paradox explores conflicts between prediction, certainty, and surprise, illustrating how logical reasoning can lead to contradictory conclusions about future events that are supposed to be surprising.