Practice question · Put in order
Arrange the steps of the Achilles paradox in order.
- The sequence never terminates, so Achilles never passes it
- Achilles runs to where the tortoise began
- By then the tortoise has moved a little further on
- Achilles runs to that new position, and the tortoise moves again
- The tortoise is given a head start
Hints
- Each stage takes Achilles to where the tortoise WAS.
- The apparent problem is that the sequence of stages has no last member.
Show the answer
- The tortoise is given a head start
- Achilles runs to where the tortoise began
- By then the tortoise has moved a little further on
- Achilles runs to that new position, and the tortoise moves again
- The sequence never terminates, so Achilles never passes it
Why
The trick is that each stage ends where the tortoise was, so by construction the sequence never reaches the overtaking. The stages describe only the time before the catch-up, which arrives on schedule regardless.
Practise Zeno and Melissus
The app has 4 more questions on this lesson, and keeps your place in the course. Philosophy I is free to start.
More questions on Zeno and Melissus
- Why did Zeno construct the paradoxes, given that he did not expect anyone to stop believing in motion?
- Achilles runs at 10 metres per second and the tortoise at 1 metre per second with a 100 metre head start.…
- A convergent series demonstrates that an infinite sequence of shrinking intervals yields a finite total. What…
- Which claims about the modern treatment of Zeno’s paradoxes are correct?
- Melissus agreed with Parmenides that what-is is complete and bounded, like a well-rounded sphere.
- Sort each statement by whether it accurately describes Zeno’s paradoxes.