Why is this a paradox?

Nobody, He has a beard.

The problem with many people is they read too much into things. If you approach it like a math problem, there really is not enough information (and verb-age) to produce a realistic equation. However, if you approach it with common sense instead of an analytical logic, the answer become clear.

This is a paradox because of the indirect approach to the subject. 1) The Barber, whom shaves those and only those who or whom don't shave themselves, leaving himself, so who's going to shave the Barber? Logically, another barber! The Barber shaved those and only those whom didn't shave themselves, then turned around and had himself a turn! No logic broken. Who shaves the Barber if the Barber only shaves those whom don't shave themselves is the paradox. The question should or could be, when the Barber is done shaving all of those whom don't shave themselves who's going to shave him?! The assumption would be that he needs one too, else it wouldn't have been mentioned =O So he wouldn't shave himself because he only shaves those who don't shave themselves, including himself. The only logical way out is he had someone else do it. It could also be a girl just the same for the Barber could have shaved her too ;)

Everyone is a self shaver, therefore nobody has to shave the barber and the barber doesn't have to shave anyone. Just because he has the job title of barber doesn't mean he has to shave anyone, at least not in the village. Stop over thinking this, the simplest answer is usually best.

Several answers...

1) The barber has a beard.

2) The barber is a woman.

3) Who is the name of the guy that shaves the barber LOL

While this may be considered cheating, I think it goes much deeper than that.

The barber can either shave or not as long as the barber is not a member of the village himself (or herself). The barber could be in the village, bot not of the village, thus not being subject to any shaving restrictions applied to the village. A third-party or visiting barber sidesteps the entire paradox.

First off, you are forgetting that women DO shave themselves, just not in the manner that you would think about in this riddle. Women do shave their legs, their armpits, and many shave "other areas" as well.

The reason why this is a paradox is because of the term "all those and only those". This is what causes it to be a paradox.

The only way that you could come up with a way that this would not be a paradox would be is if the barber in question suffered from a condition called Alopecia universalis, but as the amount of people that suffer from this condition is very low, the person that crafted this riddle probably did not think of it.

The question never says "all members of the village shave". That's an assumption. You can't have only 2 groups: those that get shaved by the Barber and those that shave themselves. It is possible they don't shave.

The issue of gender I don't think applies here. It's simply those people in need of a shave, not to mention, they didn't say WHAT was being shaved, if you get my drift.

It doesn't matter if the barber is a women. If you do not shave yourself the barber must shave you. The barber is simply a profession. There can be two barbers shaving eachother and everyone else. The barber still shaves everyone who does not shave themselves, and does not shave those who shave themselves. If the women didn't shave herself she would still have to be shaved by someone. "all those who do not shave themselves". There can also be people shaving themselves, but women or man if you don't shave the barber shaves you. SO LOOK OUT!

The simple truth is, that there is a plethora of right answers. for instance, if the barber does live in the village, then the barber from the next village, could come and shave the first barber.

His wife or anyone else can't shave him because he shaves ALL of those that do not shave themselves which would have to include him if someone else did it. However he can't shave himself because that would be shaving someone who shaves themselves. I guess you could just say the barber doesn't shave but that's kind of just a cop-out from the question. It seems like him coming from another village is the best answer since it doesn't just ignore the question.

The barber could be a woman. The barber might not shave at all. The barber might not be from that village (just because he works there, doesn't mean he's from there). If he's not "from" that village, he wouldn't be counted in any of the categories of who shaves whom.