Zeno’s Dialectic―A Static Method

Contrary to Heraclitus, who asserted that everything is in a state of flux, Parmenides (ca. 510 BC) of the Eleatic school held that there is neither generation nor destruction; neither motion or change. Inheriting Parmenides’ idea, Zeno of Elea (ca. 490-430 BC) denied movement, and tried to prove that there are only motionless beings.

Zeno cited four proofs for his view that material bodies, though appearing to be moving, are, in fact, not moving at all. One of his proofs is that Achilles can not ever overtake a tortoise. Achilles was a hero who distinguished himself during the Trojan War. Though a very fast runner, still he could not overtake a tortoise, Zeno maintained. Suppose the tortoise starts first; after the tortoise has advanced to a certain point, Achilles starts running after it. When Achilles arrives at the place where the tortoise was when he started, the tortoise has already gone ahead a certain distance. When Achilles arrives at that next place, the tortoise has already advanced again by a certain distance. Consequently, the tortoise is always ahead of Achilles.

Another proof offered by Zeno was that a flying arrow is always at rest. Suppose an arrow is flying from point A toward point C. Between A and C, the arrow passes the pints B1, B2, B3,…. To pass through these points means to stop at each point for a moment. Since the distance between A and C is a continuum of an innumerable number of points, the arrow is continuously at rest. Therefore, the arrow is always at rest.

Zeno’s method is the art of dispute through question and answer, whereby one refutes his opponent by exposing contradictions in his argument, while examining his assertions. Aristotle called him the founder of the dialectic. Zeno’s dialectic, which denied movement and proved that there are only motionless beings, could be called a static method.