Reductio Ad Absurdum Quotes (1)
The second [argument about motion] is the so-called Achilles, and it amounts to this, that in a race the quickest runner can never overtake the slowest, since the pursuer must first reach the point whence the pursued started, so that the slower must always hold a lead.
Statement of the Achilles and the Tortoise paradox in the relation of the discrete to the continuous.; perhaps the earliest example of the reductio ad absurdum method of proof.
Statement of the Achilles and the Tortoise paradox in the relation of the discrete to the continuous.; perhaps the earliest example of the reductio ad absurdum method of proof.
— Zeno
Aristotle, Physics, 239b, 14-6. In Jonathan Barnes (ed.), The Complete Works of Aristotle (1984), Vol. 1, 404.
See also: | Achilles (2) | Argument (12) | Continuous (4) | Discrete (2) | Lead (8) | Mathematics (226) | Method (14) | Motion (31) | Paradox (13) | Proof (63) | Pursuit (7) | Race (16) | Tortoise (3)
