Zeno's Paradoxes discussion

 

Zeno of Elea

Zeno of Elea, 5th c. B.C.E. thinker, is known exclusively for propounding a number of ingenious paradoxes. The most famous of these purport to show that motion is impossible by bringing to light apparent or latent contradictions in ordinary assumptions regarding its occurrence. Zeno also argued against the commonsense assumption that there are many things by showing in various ways how it, too, leads to contradiction. 

We may never know just what led Zeno to develop his famous paradoxes. While it is typically said that he aimed to defend the paradoxical monism of his Eleatic mentor, Parmenides, the Platonic evidence on which this view has resided ultimately fails to support it. Since Zeno’s arguments in fact tend to problematise the application of quantitative conceptions to physical bodies and to spatial expanses as ordinarily conceived, the paradoxes may have originated in reflection upon Pythagorean efforts to apply mathematical notions to the natural world.  (from Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)

Some questions

For each of the paradoxes, perhaps we can consider questions such as:

• How does the apparent logical argument from Zeno lead to a ridiculous conclusion?
• What does the paradox show us how we think about reality?
• Does the current standard solution solve the problem raised?

Some paradoxes from Zeno

1. The Dichotomy - please see the above YouTube video.   
2. The Achilles and the turtle - see Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy for details and solution: https://iep.utm.edu/zenos-paradoxes/
3. The Arrow: see a short response at the start of this video: https://youtu.be/SMPid7Sh0EE
• If you are interested in space time science, you may wish to continue watching the video.  Watch for the weeping angel too - don't blink.
4. Paradoxes of Plurality -Limited and Unlimited : see Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy for details and solution: https://iep.utm.edu/zenos-paradoxes/
• If you are interested in space time science, you may find the following videos interesting:
• PBS Space Time - What If Space And Time Are NOT Real? : https://youtu.be/SN8nTQiWOYY
•  PBS Space Time - What’s Your Brain’s Role in Creating Space & Time? https://youtu.be/OV9MnAZLmMQ