当一个句子、想法或公式引用自身时,就会出现自指。直到现在,真正意义上的悖论,其问题几乎都是自指或自相关而引起。[2] 尽管陈述可以是自指并且不自相矛盾(“This statement is written in English”是真实且非自相矛盾的带有自指的陈述),但自指是悖论的一个常见要素。根據路德維希·維根斯坦的《邏輯哲學論》,任何命題不能包含自身,同理一個函數不能包含自身。
^Curry, H. B, Haskell B. Foundations of mathematical logic. New York: Dover Publications. 1977: 5. ISBN 9780486634623.使用|accessdate=需要含有|url= (帮助)
^ 2.02.1Bolander, Thomas. Self-Reference (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy/Summer 2020 Edition). [2020-12-28]. (原始内容存档于2021-06-10). In 1985, Yablo succeeded in constructing a semantic paradox that does not involve self-reference in the strict sense. ... Instead, it consists of an infinite chain of sentences, each sentence expressing the untruth of all the subsequent ones.