Essay On Plato's Four Paradoxes Of Motion

Many philosophers take simple facts to be the truth without evaluating them, simply assuming these things are true because others told them so. Philosophers who question the basic principles that are accepted worldly can be thought of as outcasts, but in reality, it is better to question everything than to assume anything. Two examples of philosophers who did not make these naïve assumptions are Parmenides and Zeno of Elea. They held the belief that motion does not exist, and were ridiculed for such an outlandish stance. Zeno is best known for creating his four paradoxes of motion, but he actually created a number closer to 40 (Mastin). It is believed that these paradoxes were created by Zeno in defense of Parmenides. These four paradoxes have been argued throughout time, with some believing they have not been fully disproved to this day. Zeno of Elea’s clever wits and unique ideas are certainly worth studying for anyone with an interest in philosophy. Although not much is known about Zeno of Elea’s personal life, Plato’s dialogue …show more content…
The first is entitled often entitled the Racetrack, in which Zeno believes a runner can never reach a certain goal due to the infinite number of points between the runner and this goal. Zeno believed the assumption that motion existed was false and hoped that by showing that one could supposedly cross an infinite amount of points in a finite amount of time. The distance between the runner and the goal has a midpoint. The distance between that midpoint and the runner has its own midpoint. That new midpoint has a midpoint, and so on and so forth. As the distance can be divided into infinitely smaller distances, there is an infinite amount of points to cross. Zeno believed this paradox supported his belief in the illusion of motion, or that it is impossible to move from one place to another in any way