"The truth is, that these writings of mine were meant to protect the arguments of Parmenides against those who make fun of him and seek to show the many ridiculous and contradictory results which they suppose to follow from the affirmation of the one. My answer is addressed to the partisans of the many, whose attack I return with interest by retorting upon them that their hypothesis of the being of many, if carried out, appears to be still more ridiculous than the hypothesis of the being of one. Zeal for my master led me to write the book in the days of my youth, but some one stole the copy; and therefore I had no choice whether it should be published or not; the motive, however, of writing, was not the ambition of an elder man, but the pugnacity of a young one."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
My writing is an answer to the partisans of the many and it returns their attack with interest, with a view to showing that the hypothesis of the many, if examined sufficiently in detail, leads to even more ridiculous results than the hypothesis of the One. — As translated in A History of Philosophy, Vol. I : Greece and Rome (1953) by Frederick Charles Copleston.
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Zeno_of_Elea
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Zeno of Elea
Zeno of Elea (pronounced /ˈziːnoʊ əv ˈɛliə/, Greek: Ζήνων ὁ Ἐλεάτης) (ca. 490 BC? – ca. 430 BC?) was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher of southern Italy and a member of the monistic Eleatic school founded by Parmenides. Aristotle declared him the inventor of the dialectic, which involves a dialogue between two or more people who may hold differing views, yet wish to pursue truth by seeking agreement with one another; in contrast to debate, in which two or more people hold differing views and wish
9 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Zeno of Elea →
Related Quotes
"Zeno's arguments about motion, which cause so much disquietude to those who try to solve the problems that they prese…"
"It is said that he attempted to deliver his country from the tyranny of Nearchus. His plot was discovered, and he was…"
"All skepticism is a kind of idealism. Hence when the skeptic Zeno pursued the study of skepticism by endeavoring exis…"
"Zeno of Elea, 5th c. B.C. thinker, is known exclusively for propounding a number of ingenious paradoxes. The most fam…"
"The followers of Heraclitus insisted the Immortal Principle was change and motion. But Parmenides' disciple, Zeno, pr…"
"In this capricious world nothing is more capricious than posthumous fame. One of the most notable victims of posterit…"
"Zeno, the disciple of Parmenides, having attempted to kill the tyrant Demylus, and failing in his design, maintained …"
"If I accede to Parmenides there is nothing left but the One; if I accede to Zeno, not even the One is left."
"(About the Assumption of Mary) She who was conceived without spot and borne without pain, who became mother without l…"
"Of all the things to seek, the first is wisdom, in which lies the form of perfect goodness."