Without Lifting A Finger

Zeno's paradoxes are a set of philosophical problems generally thought to have been devised by Greek philosopher Zeno of Elea (ca. 490–430 BC) to support Parmenides's doctrine that contrary to the evidence of one's senses, the belief in plurality and change is mistaken, and in particular that motion is nothing but an illusion . It is usually assumed, based on Plato's Parmenides (128a-d), that Zeno took on the project of creating these paradoxes because other philosophers had created paradoxes against Parmenides's view. Thus Plato has Zeno say the purpose of the paradoxes "is to show that their hypothesis that existences are many, if properly followed up, leads to still more absurd results than the hypothesis that they are one." ( Parmenides 128d). Plato has Socrates claim that Zeno and Parmenides were essentially arguing exactly the same point ( Parmenides 128a-b). Some of Zeno's nine surviving paradoxes (preserved in Aristotle's Ph...

Zeno of Elea ( / ˈ z iː n oʊ ə v ˈ ɛ l i ə / ; Greek : Ζήνων ὁ Ἐλεάτης ; ca. 490 BC – ca. 430 BC) was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher of southern Italy and a member of the Eleatic School founded by Parmenides . Aristotle called him the inventor of the dialectic . [ 1 ] He is best known for his paradoxes , which Bertrand Russell has described as "immeasurably subtle and profound." Life Little is known for certain about Zeno's life. Although written nearly a century after Zeno's death, the primary source of biographical information about Zeno is Plato 's Parmenides . [ 3 ] In the dialogue, Plato describes a visit to Athens by Zeno and Parmenides, at a time when Parmenides is "about 65," Zeno is "nearly 40" and Socrates is "a very young man". [ 4 ] Assuming an age for Socrates of around 20, and taking the date of Socrates' birth as 469 BC gives an approximate date of birth for Zeno of 490 BC. Plato says that Zeno w...

     (5) Further, too, if it is itself and existent, where will it be? Zeno's difficulty demands an explanation: for if everything that exists has a place, place too will have a place, and so on ad infinitum.