The Motionless Arrow: Aristotles Thoughts On Zenos Arror Argument :: essays research papers

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 points can be reached about the validity and soundness of the argument. Though, by finding the premises false, the argument is not sound, and therefore, Zeno's argument leaves much to be said. Deciphering from what we know of the argument by what Aristotle tells us in Chapter 9, the premises are sketched out: 1. Everything is at rest when at a place equal to it; 2. The Flying arrow is at rest when at a place equal to it; 3. Time is composed of indivisible nows (instants). 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 or acceleration at a specific point in its journey, at a specific time. Wouldn't this make time indivisible? Velocity and acceleration are given to mean motion, which means the object is moving at this specific point in time. Therefore, according to Aristotle, this paradox would not be so if it were not taken that time were composed of nows. By rejecting this premise, and reevaluating the argument, you will read