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Melissus. The Eleatic Thesis : Only one thing exists and it is ( i ) ungenerated , (ii) indestructible, (iii) whole, (iv) of one kind, (v) unwavering, and (vi) complete.
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The Eleatic Thesis: Only one thing exists and it is (i) ungenerated, (ii) indestructible, (iii) whole, (iv) of one kind, (v) unwavering, and (vi) complete.
[W]hat does not come into existence has not got a beginning. But what exists has not come into being. Therefore it has not got a beginning. Again, what is destroyed has an end, and if something is indestructible it has not got an end. Therefore what exists, being indestructible, has not got an end. But what has neither beginning nor end is in fact infinite. Therefore what exists infinite.
If something does not come into existence, then it does not have a beginning. • What exists does not come into being. • [So] What exists does not have a beginning. • If something is indestructible, it does not have an end. • What exists is indestructible. • [So] What exists does not have an end. • If something has neither beginning nor end, then it is infinite. • What exists is infinite.
If something is infinite, it is unique. For if there were two things they cold not be infinite but would have limits against one another. But what exists is infinite. Therefore there is not a plurality of existents. Therefore what exists is unique.
If there were two things, then they would have limits against one another. • If things have limits against one another, then they are not infinite. • What exists is infinite. • [So] There is not a plurality of existents. • What exists is unique.
If it is unique… it can neither perish nor grow nor change its arrangement nor suffer pain nor suffer anguish… For anything that undergoes any change of whatever sort moves from on state into a different one. But nothing is different from what exists. Therefore it will not change.
If it is unique… it can neither perish nor grow nor change its arrangement nor suffer pain nor suffer anguish… For anything that undergoes any change of whatever sort moves from on state into a different one. But nothing is different from what exists. Therefore it will not change.
If it is unique… it can neither perish nor grow nor change its arrangement nor suffer pain nor suffer anguish… For anything that undergoes any change of whatever sort moves from on state into a different one. But nothing is different from what exists. Therefore it will not change.
If it is unique… it can neither perish nor grow nor change its arrangement nor suffer pain nor suffer anguish… For anything that undergoes any change of whatever sort moves from on state into a different one. But nothing is different from what exists. Therefore it will not change.
Melissus’Argumentagainst Qualitative Change • If something undergoes qualitative change, then it moves from one state into a different one. • If something moves from one state into a different one, then it differs from itself. • Nothing differs from itself. • Nothing undergoes qualitative change.
The Leaf Argument • If the leaf changes color, then the YL is the OL. • The YL is green and the OL is red. • If something is red, then it isn’t green. • [So] If the YL is the OL, then it is both green and not. • The leaf doesn’t change color.
