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The Motionless Arrow: Aristotle's Thoughts On Zeno's Arror Argument - Online Term Paper

The Motionless Arrow: Aristotle's Thoughts On Zeno's Arror Argument

Aristotle's thoughts on Zeno's Arrow Argument as represented in Chapter
9 of Aristotle's Physics: A Guided Study can be understood in such a way that it
might not be "next door to madness". In this chapter, Aristotle interprets
Zeno's argument of the Flying Arrow as "missing the mark". There are four
premises for this argument, and in Aristotle's opinion, premise three can be
rejected. He does not believe that time is composed of indivisible nows, which
he proves with laws of science. However, by evaluating the falsity of premise
three, you will find that premises one and two are also false. Almost all
opinions can be argued, however, and by evaluating the philosophy of both men,
many ...

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4. Everything that changes place is doing so in the now.
5. Conclusion: The flying arrow doesn't move.

According to Zeno, time is composed of many indivisible nows, or instants.
Aristotle disagrees, stating in line 210 that no magnitude, including time, is
composed of indivisible nows. Exactly how long is an instant? Is time finite?
As you start dividing time, the smaller you get, the less movement occurs. But
even when you do divide it smaller and smaller, is there not at least some small
amount of movement occurring? When will time get so small that movement does
not occur? This is Aristotle's reasoning: that time will never get to a
"smallest" point, as length will never have a "smallest" division. Therefore,
he is rejecting the third premise, stating that time is not composed of
indivisible segments.
Zeno, however, feels that time can be divided into a "smallest" part.
After all, in physics, you can determine an object's instantaneous velocity ...

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The Motionless Arrow: Aristotle's Thoughts On Zeno's Arror Argument. (2008, February 9). Retrieved January 22, 2025, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Motionless-Arrow-Aristotles-Thoughts-Zenos-Arror/78786

"The Motionless Arrow: Aristotle's Thoughts On Zeno's Arror Argument." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 9 Feb. 2008. Web. 22 Jan. 2025. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Motionless-Arrow-Aristotles-Thoughts-Zenos-Arror/78786>

"The Motionless Arrow: Aristotle's Thoughts On Zeno's Arror Argument." Essayworld.com. February 9, 2008. Accessed January 22, 2025. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Motionless-Arrow-Aristotles-Thoughts-Zenos-Arror/78786.

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Added: 2/9/2008 07:47:02 PM
Category: Miscellaneous
Type: Premium Paper
Words: 939
Pages: 4

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