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4th-century BCE Greek philosopher From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Eubulides (Greek: Εὑβουλίδης; fl. 4th century BCE) of Miletus was a philosopher of the Megarian school who is famous for his paradoxes.
Eubulides | |
---|---|
Εὐβουλίδης | |
Born | fl. 4th Century BCE |
Era | Ancient philosophy |
Region | Ancient Greek philosophy |
School | Megarian school |
Notable students | Demosthenes Apollonius Cronus Euphantus Alexinus |
Main interests | Paradoxes |
Notable ideas | Liar paradox Sorites paradox |
According to Diogenes Laërtius, Eubulides was a pupil of Euclid of Megara,[1] the founder of the Megarian school. He was a contemporary of Aristotle, against whom he wrote with great bitterness.[2][3] He taught logic to Demosthenes,[4] and he is also said to have taught Apollonius Cronus, the teacher of Diodorus Cronus, and the historian Euphantus.[5][6]
Eubulides is most famous for inventing the forms of seven famous paradoxes,[1] some of which, however, are also ascribed to Diodorus Cronus:[7]
The first paradox (the Liar) is probably the most famous, and is similar to the famous paradox of Epimenides the Cretan. The second, third and fourth paradoxes are variants of a single paradox and relate to the problem of what it means to "know" something and the identity of objects involved in an affirmation (compare the masked-man fallacy). The fifth and sixth paradoxes are also a single paradox and is usually thought to relate to the vagueness of language.[8] The final paradox, the horns, is a paradox related to presupposition.[9]
These paradoxes were very well known in ancient times, some are alluded to by Eubulides' contemporary Aristotle[10] and even partially by Plato.[11][6] Chrysippus, the Stoic philosopher wrote about the paradoxes developed by Eubulides and characterized the Horns paradox as an intractable problem (aporoi logoi).[9] Aulus Gellius mentions how the discussion of such paradoxes was considered (for him) after-dinner entertainment at the Saturnalia,[12] but Seneca, on the other hand, considered them a waste of time: "Not to know them does no harm, and mastering them does no good."[13]
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