On some paradoxes of the infinite II

British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 46 (2):235-247 (1995)
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Abstract

In an earlier paper the authors discussed some super-tasks by means of a kinematical interpretation. In the present paper we show a semi-formal way that a more abstract treatment is possible. The core idea of our approach is simple: if a super-task can be considered as a union of (finite) tasks, it is natural to define the effect of the super-task as the union of the effects of the finite tasks it consists of. We show that this approach enables us to handle two of the three super-tasks that we discussed earlier. We also argue that recent objections against our original kinematical interpretation do not hold water. One of our arguments is based on the construction of an elegant correspondence between the first of those three super-tasks and Zeno's Achilles and the Tortois.

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Citations of this work

Parts and differences.Stephen Yablo - 2016 - Philosophical Studies 173 (1):141-157.
Supertasks.Jon Pérez Laraudogoitia - 2008 - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Classical arithmetic is quite unnatural.Jean Paul Van Bendegem - 2003 - Logic and Logical Philosophy 11:231-249.
The Labours of Zeno – a Supertask indeed?Barbara M. Sattler - 2019 - Ancient Philosophy Today 1 (1):1-17.

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