Zeno of Elea(5th century BC)
Philosopher
and mathematician from Elea in Italy. He studied under Parmenides and followed
his techer to Athens when he was 40. There he became a teacher, and had several
famous students, including Pericles and Callias.Later in life he was to return
to Elea, where he is said to have tried to overthrow the tyrant Nearchus.
The plan failed, and Zeno was tortured, but couragously gave no information.
Zeno worked out a series of paradoxes to demonstrate his ideas, including
the logical impossibility of motion and the illusority of the senses. In doing
this, he was called the inventor of dialectical reasoning by Aristotle. His
best known paradox is the one about Achilles and the turtle. According to
Zenon, if the two are put to race and the turtle is given some distance to
start before Achilles, there is no way Achilles can pass it as the turtle
will move a little while Achilles is running. By moving forward the turtle
is always ahead, and so it will be at least a tie.