Why Achilles Need Not Catch the Tortoise

Kagaku Tetsugaku 43 (2):81-94 (2010)
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Abstract

Achilles need not catch the tortoise, although Achilles is faster than the tortoise. Zeno's premise does not determine whether Achilles can catch up. In this paper, I clarify this fact through a critical examination of Noya (2005), which criticizes Aoyama (2002) and Uemura (2002). Noya's solution smuggles the unnecessary premise of equal ratio to make Achilles catch up. However, his solution gives a new idea about what speed is. In the last part of this paper, I develop this idea and explain the reason why Achilles usually catches up in the actual world.

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Takuo Aoyama
Kyoto University

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References found in this work

Dilemmas.Gilbert Ryle - 1954 - Cambridge [Eng.]: University Press.
Dilemmas.Abraham Kaplan & Gilbert Ryle - 1955 - Philosophical Review 64 (4):644.

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