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The Greeks
An Ancient Conversation About Motion
Matei Tanasă imagines the sort of conversation about change, motion, appearance and reality that philosophers were having in ancient Athens.
(Heraclitus, Parmenides, Zeno, and Pyrrhon are sitting at a table in Athens. A worried looking Athenian approaches.)
Athenian: Oh, you who are the wisest of men, I long for freedom from illusion, the hardest of chains and cruellest of servitudes!
Heraclitus: Tell us your problem with no hesitation. We gladly help the ones who seek for knowledge.
Athenian: I have heard it said that many philosophers claim that movement – that which seems most evident of all – is not real, but a mere phantasm.
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