eul_wid: bwc-aa
DOI 10.5281/zenodo.20335421 PDFMarkdown

On the Physis of Plurality by Zeno of Elea

On the Nature of Plurality is a collection of philosophical arguments by the 5th-century BCE thinker Zeno of Elea, a student of Parmenides. The work survives only in fragmentary form, known through several key passages preserved by later ancient authors such as Aristotle and the commentator Simplicius. These fragments contain Zeno's famous paradoxes, which employ rigorous logical reasoning to challenge the commonsense belief in a world composed of many distinct entities. His method was to adopt the hypothesis that "there are many things" and then demonstrate that it leads to absurd or contradictory conclusions, such as things being simultaneously infinitely large and having no magnitude at all.

The work is widely interpreted as a defensive polemic intended to support Parmenides' doctrine that reality is a single, unchanging unity by exposing the logical incoherence of the alternative belief in plurality. Zeno's paradoxes, including those concerning motion and divisibility, were aimed at a sophisticated philosophical audience engaged in early metaphysical debate. Despite its incomplete transmission, the logical puzzles presented in On the Nature of Plurality have exerted a profound and lasting influence, continuously shaping discussions in metaphysics, logic, and the foundations of mathematics.

ΖΗΝΩΝΟΣ ΠΕΡΙ ΦΥΣΕΩΣ

Σιμπλίκιος ὁ Κίλιξ τὸ δὲ κατὰ μέγεθος ἄπειρον ἔδειξε πρότερον κατὰ τὴν αὐτὴν ἐπιχείρησιν. προδείξας γὰρ ὅτι «εἰ μὴ ἔχοι μέγεθος τὸ ὄν, οὐδʼ ἂν εἴη», ἐπάγει «εἰ δὲ ἔστιν, ἀνάγκη ἕκαστον μέγεθός τι ἔχειν καὶ πάχος καὶ ἀπέχειν αὐτοῦ τὸ ἕτερον ἀπὸ τοῦ ἑτέρου. καὶ περὶ τοῦ προύχοντος ὁ αὐτὸς λόγος. καὶ γὰρ ἐκεῖνο ἕξει μέγεθος καὶ προέξει αὐτοῦ τι. ὅμοιον δὴ τοῦτο ἅπαξ τε εἰπεῖν καὶ ἀεὶ λέγειν· οὐδὲν γὰρ αὐτοῦ τοιοῦτον ἔσχατον ἔσται οὔτε ἕτερον πρὸς ἕτερον οὐκ ἔσται. οὕτως εἰ πολλά ἐστιν, ἀνάγκη αὐτὰ μικρά τε εἶναι καὶ μεγάλα· μικρὰ μὲν ὥστε μὴ ἔχειν μέγεθος, μεγάλα δὲ ὥστε ἄπειρα εἶναι».

Σιμπλίκιος ὁ Κίλιξ ἐν μέντοι τῶι συγγράμματι αὐτοῦ πολλὰ ἔχοντι ἐπιχειρήματα καθʼ ἕκαστον δείκνυσιν, ὅτι τῶι πολλὰ εἶναι λέγοντι συμβαίνει τὰ ἐναντία λέγειν· ὧν ἕν ἐστιν ἐπιχείρημα, ἐν ὧι δείκνυσιν ὅτι «εἰ πολλά ἐστι, καὶ μεγάλα ἐστὶ καὶ μικρά· μεγάλα μὲν ὥστε ἄπειρα τὸ μέγεθος εἶναι, μικρὰ δὲ οὕτως ὥστε μηθὲν ἔχειν μέγεθος». ἐν δὴ τούτωι δείκνυσιν, ὅτι οὗ μήτε μέγεθος μήτε πάχος μήτε ὄγκος μηθείς ἐστιν, οὐδʼ ἂν εἴη τοῦτο. «εἰ γὰρ ἄλλωι ὄντι, φησί, προσγένοιτο, οὐδὲν ἂν μεῖζον ποιήσειεν· μεγέθους γὰρ μηδενὸς ὄντος, προσγενομένου δέ, οὐδὲν οἷόν τε εἰς μέγεθος ἐπιδοῦναι. καὶ οὕτως ἂν ἤδη τὸ προσγινόμενον οὐδὲν εἴη. εἰ δὲ ἀπογινομένου τὸ ἕτερον μηδὲν ἔλαττον ἔσται μηδὲ αὖ προσγινομένου αὐξήσεται, δῆλον ὅτι τὸ προσγενόμενον οὐδὲν ἦν οὐδὲ τὸ ἀπογενόμενον». καὶ ταῦτα οὐχὶ τὸ ἓν ἀναιρῶν ὁ Ζήνων λέγει, ἀλλʼ ὅτι μέγεθος ἔχει ἕκαστον τῶν πολλῶν καὶ ἀπείρων τῶι πρὸ τοῦ λαμβανομένου ἀεί τι εἶναι διὰ τὴν ἐπʼ ἄπειρον τομήν· ὃ δείκνυσι προδείξας, ὅτι οὐδὲν ἔχει μέγεθος ἐκ τοῦ ἕκαστον τῶν πολλῶν ἑαυτῶι ταὐτὸν εἶναι καὶ ἕν.

καὶ τί δεῖ πολλὰ λέγειν, ὅτε καὶ ἐν αὐτῶι φέρεται τῶι τοῦ Ζήνωνος συγγράμματι; πάλιν γὰρ δεικνύς, ὅτι εἰ πολλά ἐστι, τὰ αὐτὰ πεπερασμένα ἐστὶ καὶ ἄπειρα, γράφει ταῦτα κατὰ λέξιν ὁ Ζ.· «εἰ πολλά ἐστιν, ἀνάγκη τοσαῦτα εἶναι ὅσα ἐστὶ καὶ οὔτε πλείονα αὐτῶν οὔτε ἐλάττονα. εἰ δὲ τοσαῦτά ἐστιν ὅσα ἐστί, πεπερασμένα ἂν εἴη.

εἰ πολλά ἐστιν, ἄπειρα τὰ ὄντα ἐστίν· ἀεὶ γὰρ ἕτερα μεταξὺ τῶν ὄντων ἐστί, καὶ πάλιν ἐκείνων ἕτερα μεταξύ. καὶ οὕτως ἄπειρα τὰ ὄντα ἐστί». καὶ οὕτως μὲν τὸ κατὰ τὸ πλῆθος ἄπειρον ἐκ τῆς διχοτομίας ἔδειξε.

Λαέρτιος Διογένης οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ Ξενοφάνης καὶ Ζ. ὁ Ἐλεάτης καὶ Δημόκριτος κατʼ αὐτοὺς σκεπτικοὶ τυγχάνουσιν ... Ζ. δὲ τὴν κίνησιν ἀναιρεῖ λέγων «τὸ κινούμενον οὔτʼ ἐν ὧι ἔστι τόπωι κινεῖται οὔτʼ ἐν ὧι μὴ ἔστι».