Week 1 Philosohpy

A famous disciple of Parmenides, Zeno, had number arguments to support Parmenides’ theory that reality is One. Two of his anti-motion arguments are about let’s say a rabbit. Basically one theory is that if a rabbit must move from one hole to another hole that rabbit must first reach the midway point between the two holes. But to reach that point it had to reach the quarter point. But to reach that the rabbit must reach the eighth point etc etc. A rabbit must pass an infinite number of points to get anywhere and each of those points takes a sliver of time. To reach an infinite number of points it would take an infinite amount of time which rules out the possibility of motion.

Likewise the second theory is similar saying to reach that second whole the rabbit must occupy a space equal to its length. But if a thing occupies a space equal to its length it is at rest. This says that an object cannot move.

There are a number of mistakes to his logic. He builds an impressive argument because the theory’s make sense. The only problem is if you put the two theories together then an object moves from one point equal to its own body length shortening the distance to the rabbit hole. The modern dictionary defines motion as the changing of positions or places. This signifies that the rabbit must be moving if it is able to get from one hole to the other. If the rabbit is at rest and there is no motion then the rabbit or anything else in the world would not be able to get where it needs to go. There have been a number of other philosophers that have tried to explain motion and given theories on such. One would be Einstein’s theory on motion that says that an object stays in motion or rest unless it is disturbed by an external force. SO there are a number of theories out there that prove Zeno wrong and make a lot more sense. An object has to be in motion if it needs to get from one spot to another.