The Paradox From Zeno And Mctaggart Essay - 1539 Words

In this paper I will be discussing the concept of the paradox, examples from Zeno and McTaggart, and how modern science has potential solved the paradox put forth by McTaggart. Both of these paradoxes have a enormous repercussion on how objective fact about the world can be understood. I claim that McTaggart’s theory of time can be solved by modern physics as Einstein’s theory of relativity makes time a relative factor in how time is understood. Before discussing the idea of paradoxes, I will first describe what a paradox is. A paradox, strictly speaking, is when a theory with logical premises leads to the creation of two logical, but contradictory, conclusion. This definition of paradox works, but is very limited in scope of what we can classify as a paradox. Thus modifying the definition of a paradox to mean an argument that leads to wildly different conclusion†¦ . Using this understanding of paradox, I will give a famous example of a paradox thought up by the Gr eek philosopher Zeno. I will now discuss Zeno’s paradox of motion. Zeno argues that motion does not exist through this argument: 1) there is an object at point A that is moving to a point B; 2) in order to reach point B, the object must pass the halfway point of points A and B; 3) we continue halving the remain distance and point B, all the way up to infinity; 4) this means that the object is taking an infinite distance to cross, and therefore, motion cannot exist, as an object cannot move an infinite