Although Parmenides himself may actually have been the first to use this style of argument, Zeno became the most famous. Zeno's paradoxes were one of the first examples of a method of proof called reductio ad absurdum (or epicheirema in Greek), a kind of dialectical syllogism or proof by contradiction. To do this he considered what would happen if something was divided into infinitely small amounts, showing that this inevitably resulted in a situation which made no sense, and so must be wrong. However, because common sense tells us that there is both motion and plurality (as in the Pythagorean notion of reality), Zeno developed arguments to show that the common sense notion of reality leads to consequences at least as paradoxical as those of Parmenides.underlying intention was to affirm that everything was One (as Monism asserted), that all belief in plurality and change is mistaken, and in particular that motion is nothing but an illusion. The "true being" behind the illusion is absolutely one and has no plurality ( Monism), and furthermore it is static and unchangeable. Like Parmenides, he taught that the world of sense, with its apparent motion (or change) and plurality (or multiplicity), is merely an illusion. He did not really add anything positive to the teachings of Parmenides, but devoted himself to refuting the views of his opponents. WorkĪlthough several ancient writers refer to the "writings" of Zeno, none of them have survived intact, and the few fragments of his philosophy we do have mainly come down to us through Aristotle (who was a major detractor of Zeno's ideas). However, these details may well be pure inventions, and we can only assume that he died around 430 B.C., although with little or no evidence. 46 - 120), Zeno attempted to kill the tyrant Demylus, and having failed to do so, he bit off his tongue and spit it in the tyrant's face. He devoted all his energies to explaining and developing Parmenides' philosophical system.Īccording to some reports, Zeno was arrested and perhaps killed at the hands of a tyrant of Elea. He was praised as a "universal critic", skilled in arguing both sides of any question. He appears to have lived for at least some time at Athens, and to have explained his doctrines to prominent Athenian statesmen like Pericles (c. He was around forty years old when he accompanied Parmenides to Athens and met the young Socrates. Plato tells us that Zeno was "tall and fair to look upon" and was reported to have been "beloved" by Parmenides in his youth, so he may have been Parmenides' eromenos (or adolescent lover, a common tradition of ancient Greece). biographer of the ancient Greek philosophers, Diogenes Laërtius, reported that Zeno was the son of Teleutagoras, but was adopted by Parmenides. Little is known for certain about Zeno's life. The date is an estimate based on Plato's report of a visit to Athens by Zeno and his teacher Parmenides when Socrates was "a very young man", and Zeno being about 25 years younger than Parmenides. in the Greek colony of Elea in southern Italy. But Aristotle has called him the inventor of the dialectic, and no less a logician and historian than Bertrand Russell has credited him with having laid the foundations of modern Logic. He was a prominent member of the Eleatic School of ancient Greek philosophy, which had been founded by Parmenides, and he subscribed to and defended the Monist beliefs of Parmenides.Īrguably he did not really attempt to add anything positive to the teachings of his master, Parmenides, and he is best known today for his paradoxes of motion. 490 - 430 B.C.) was an important Pre-Socratic Greek philosopher from the Greek colony of Elea in southern Italy.
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