ZENO OF

ELEA
PHILOSOPHY
 BACKGROUND
INFORMATION
• BORN ON C. 495 BC
• DIED ON C. 430 BC AROUND 65 Y/O
• MAIN INTEREST ARE METAPHYSICS AND
ONTOLOGY
• SCHOOL: ELEATIC SCHOOL
• ERA : PRE- SOCRATIC PHILOSOPHY
• ZENO OF ELEA WAS A GREEK PHILOSOPHER
AND LOGICIAN. A MEMBER OF THE ELEATIC
SCHOOL OF PHILOSOPHY, HE WAS FAMOUS
THROUGHOUT ANTIQUITY FOR THE
RIGOROUSLY LOGICAL AND DEVASTATING
ARGUMENTS WHICH HE USED TO SHOW THE
ABSURDITIES AND CONTRADICTIONS OF HIS
OPPONENTS.
• ZENO WAS A PYTHAGOREAN, THAT HE
ENGAGED IN POLITICAL ACTIVITY IN HIS
NATIVE CITY, AND THAT HE WAS PUT TO
• DEATH FOR PLOTTING AGAINST A TYRANT. AN
OFT-REPEATED STORY TELLS OF HIS BRAVERY
UNDER TORTURE AND THE PAINFUL DEATH
WHICH HE ENDURED.
• ZENO'S ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTION TO
THOUGHT WAS THE METHOD OF
DEDUCTION WHICH HE DEVELOPED TO
WORK OUT TWO SETS OF
CONTRADICTORY CONCLUSIONS FROM A
GIVEN POSTULATE. FROM HIS ARGUMENT
AGAINST THE PLURALISTS, THE
FOLLOWING EXAMPLE IS TYPICAL.
• LET IT BE POSTULATED THAT EVERYTHING HAS
DEVELOPED FROM AN ORIGINALLY PLURAL
SOURCE (AS OPPOSED TO PARMENIDES'S ONE). IF
THINGS ARE MANY, THEN THEY ARE FINITE SINCE
THEY ARE THE NUMBER THAT THEY ARE. BUT IF
THINGS ARE MANY, THEY ARE INFINITE SINCE
THERE MUST ALWAYS BE OTHER THINGS BETWEEN
THEM, AND OTHERS BETWEEN THOSE AD
INFINITUM.
 HIS CONTRIBUTION ABOUT
REALITY
• ZENO SET ABOUT TO PROVE THE UNITY OF EXISTENCE MATHEMATICALLY.
• ARGUING AGAINST MOTION, THE SENSES, AND PLURALITY
• HE WROTE 40 PARADOXES SHOWING HOW, LOGICALLY, CHANGE AND
MOTION CANNOT EXIST (OF THESE 40, CONTAINED IN ONE VOLUME, LESS
THAN TEN EXIST TODAY).
• HIS BEST KNOWN ARE THE RACE COURSE, THE ACHILLES, THE ARROW, AND
THE STADIUM, ALL OF WHICH PROVE THE LOGICAL IMPOSSIBILITY OF
PLURALITY AND MOTION. ZENO'S PARADOXES HAVE FASCINATED
MATHEMATICIANS AND LOGICIANS FOR HUNDREDS OF YEARS AND HAVE
YET TO BE SATISFACTORILY SOLVED.
• ZENO WAS FAMOUS FOR THE PARADOXES
WHEREBY, IN ORDER TO RECOMMEND THE
PARMENIDEAN DOCTRINE OF THE EXISTENCE OF
“THE ONE” (I.E., INDIVISIBLE REALITY),
• HE SOUGHT TO CONTROVERT THE COMMONSENSE
BELIEF IN THE EXISTENCE OF “THE MANY” (I.E.,
DISTINGUISHABLE QUALITIES AND THINGS
CAPABLE OF MOTION).
ZENO TRIED TO SHOW THAT THE
ASSUMPTION OF THE EXISTENCE
OF A PLURALITY OF THINGS IN
TIME AND SPACE CARRIED WITH
IT MORE SERIOUS
INCONSISTENCIES.
ZENO MADE USE OF THREE PREMISES:
• FIRST, THAT ANY UNIT HAS MAGNITUDE
• SECOND, THAT IT IS INFINITELY
DIVISIBLE
• AND THIRD, THAT IT IS INDIVISIBLE.