Zeno

of Elea
Born
Around 490 B.C.
in Elea
Died
Around 430 B.C.
in Elea
Famous For
Zeno is most famous for
his paradoxes. Although
he authored at least 40,
only nine survive. The
most famous is that of
Achilles and the Tortoise.
A Philosopher
Zeno was an influential
philosopher who greatly
influenced Socrates. He
introduced the style of
argument known as
reductio ad absurdum.
The two-edged tongue of mighty Zeno, who,
Say what one would, would argue it untrue
Timon of Phlius
At right the paradox of
Achilles and the tortoise is
illustrated. According to Zeno,
even though Achilles could
narrow the gap between him
and the tortoise, the tortoise
would always remain in front
by a tiny amount, because as
Achilles gained, the tortoise
would also move forward.
Thus no matter how many
times he halved the tortoises
lead, he could never overtake
it.
Interesting Facts
Zeno bit off his tounge
and spit it out before being
executed, after being
arrested for taking part in a
plot against Eleas tyrant,
Nearchus.
Socrates criticized
Zenos method of argument,
even though his was very
similar.
Zeno wrote his paradox-
es as a young man, but
when he was older he stated
that the paradoxes were
simply pranks of his youth.
Paradoxes
The Dichotomy: Motion cannot exist
because before that which is in motion can
reach its destination, it must reach the mid-
point of its course, but before it can reach the
middle, it must reach the quarterpoint, but
before it reaches the quarterpoint, it first
must reach the eigthpoint, etc. Hence, motion
can never start.
The Achilles: The running Achilles can
never catch a crawling tortoise ahead of him
because he must first reach where the tortoise
started. However, when he reaches there, the
tortoise has moved ahead, and Achilles must
now run to the new position, which by the
time he reaches the tortoise has moved ahead,
etc. Hence the tortoise will always be ahead.
The Arrow: Time is made up of instants,
which are the smallest measure and indivisi-
ble. An arrow is either in motion or at rest. An
arrow cannot move, because for motion to
occur, the arrow would have to be in one posi-
tion at the start of an instant and at another at
the end of the instant. However, this means
that the instant is divisible which is impossi-
ble because by definition, instants are indivis-
ible. Hence, the arrow is always at rest.
by Lucy Hurdle