Book Description
A reprint of the Bobbs-Merrill edition of 1970.

These essays lead the reader through the land of the wonderful shrinking genie to the warehouse where the "infinity machines" are kept. By careful examination of a lamp that is switched on and off infinitely many times, or the workings of a machine that prints out an infinite decimal expansion of pi, we begin to understand how it is possible for Achilles to overtake the tortoise. The concepts that form the basis of modern science-space, time, motion, change, infinity-are examined and explored in this edition. Includes an updated bibliography. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Great Investigation of the Notion of Infinity
I really enjoyed this book.It's a great survey of the notion of infinity, and the quality of the prose is, for the most part, very good.I would definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in philosophy, mathematics, or the history of thought.

Good Survey of Modern Reaction
This is a great introduction to the modern reaction to Zeno's paradoxes. The most important articles from Russell to the debates on infinity machines are included. The bibliography, at over 200 works, is the best I've seen. There is a mathematical bent to most of the articles, usually in the form of questions of infinity, or measure theory. Nonetheless, there are articles by philosophers who reject the idea of a completed infinity. I did a semester-long college project on Zeno's paradoxes, focusing on mathematical implications, and this was the most useful sourcebook by far. ... Read more

Book Description
Of all Plato's dialogues, the Parmenides is notoriously the most difficult to interpret. Scholars of all periods have disagreed about its aims and subject matter. The interpretations have ranged from reading the dialogue as an introduction to the whole of Platonic metaphysics to seeing it as a collection of sophisticated tricks, or even as an elaborate joke. This work presents an illuminating new translation of the dialogue together with an extensive introduction and running commentary, giving a unified explanation of the Parmenides and integrating it firmly within the context of Plato's metaphysics and methodology.
Scolnicov shows that in the Parmenides Plato addresses the most serious challenge to his own philosophy: the monism of Parmenides and the Eleatics. In addition to providing a serious rebuttal to Parmenides, Plato here re-formulates his own theory of forms and participation, arguments that are central to the whole of Platonic thought, and provides these concepts with a rigorous logical and philosophical foundation. In Scolnicov's analysis, the Parmenides emerges as an extension of ideas from Plato's middle dialogues and as an opening to the later dialogues.
Scolnicov's analysis is crisp and lucid, offering a persuasive approach to a complicated dialogue. This translation follows the Greek closely, and the commentary affords the Greekless reader a clear understanding of how Scolnicov's interpretation emerges from the text. This volume will provide a valuable introduction and framework for understanding a dialogue that continues to generate lively discussion today. ... Read more