Sorites Paradox

The sorites paradox (sometimes translated as the paradox of the heap because in Ancient Greek: σωρίτης sōritēs means "heaped up") is a paradox that arises from vague predicates. A typical formulation involves a heap of sand, from which grains are individually removed. Under the assumption that removing a single grain does not turn a heap into a non-heap, the paradox is to consider what heaps when the process is repeated enough times: is a single remaining grain still a heap? (Or are even no grains at all a heap?) If not, when did it change from a heap to a non-heap?

Read more about Sorites Paradox:  Proposed Resolutions

Famous quotes containing the word paradox:

    ... it is the desert’s grimness, its stillness and isolation, that bring us back to love. Here we discover the paradox of the contemplative life, that the desert of solitude can be the school where we learn to love others.
    Kathleen Norris (b. 1947)