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5. Theory of Logic / L. Paradox / 7. Paradoxes of Time

[contradiction is the precise analysis of time]

3 ideas
Zeno's arrow paradox depends on the assumption that time is composed of nows [Aristotle on Zeno of Elea]
     Full Idea: Zeno's third argument claims that a moving arrow is still. Here the conclusion depends on assuming that time is composed of nows; if this assumption is not granted, the argument fails.
     From: comment on Zeno (Elea) (fragments/reports [c.450 BCE], A27?) by Aristotle - Physics 239b5
Since Socrates either died when he was alive (a contradiction) or died when he was dead (meaningless), he didn't die [Sext.Empiricus]
     Full Idea: If Socrates died, he died either when he lived or when he died; so he was either dead when he was alive, or he was twice dead when he was dead. So he didn't die.
     From: Sextus Empiricus (Outlines of Pyrrhonism [c.180], III.111)
     A reaction: One of my favourites. Of all the mysteries facing us, the one that boggles me most is how anything can happen in the 'present' moment, if the present is just the overlap point between past and future.
A traveller takes a copy of a picture into the past, gives it the artist, who then creates the original! [Baron/Miller]
     Full Idea: Suppose an art critic travels back in time with a copy of an artist's masterpiece, gives the artist the copy, and the artist copies it. The copy of the copy turns out to be the original mastepiece. The artwork seems to come from nowhere.
     From: Baron,S/Miller,K (Intro to the Philosophy of Time [2019], 8.6)
     A reaction: Lovely thought. Is the example possible (even with time travel)? How would the critic possess the copy before making the time journey? What if the critic decided not to travel back in time? Can a picture exist if no one has imagined it first?