If Zeus can do anything can he make a stone he cannot lift?

[threetheoreom]

I came accros this question while reading a bit of Logic and i was wondering what you guys think about. If Zeus can do anything can he make a stone he cannot lift?

Hope its not too trivial.

thanks

 

[Hurkyl]

Some things to consider:

Does "making a stone that Zeus cannot lift" fall under the umbrella of "anything"?

Does "Zeus lifting a stone that Zeus cannot lift" fall under the umbrella of "anything"?

Is Zeus required to still satisfy the condition that he can "do anything" after creating such a stone?

 

[threetheoreom]

I think I get it 'do anything' ,'Zeus' are all prepositions that are logically disconnected

 

[JoeDawg]

I came accros this question while reading a bit of Logic and i was wondering what you guys think about. If Zeus can do anything can he make a stone he cannot lift?

Hope its not too trivial.

thanks

Its an old philosophical puzzle, but mostly a word game. It has its uses as a thought experiment, so its not trivial, but mainly it shows how nonsensical the idea of omnipotence is.

On the other hand...

Zeus could indeed create a boulder he couldn't lift, but then when he wants to lift it, he could make himself stronger and lift it... as long as Hera didn't make the boulder even heavier when poor old Zeus wasn't looking.

 

[Hurkyl]

but mainly it shows how nonsensical the idea of omnipotence is.

For the naive notion of omnipoitence.

 

[Moridin]

Astronomer and Astrobiologist Carl Sagan made the following analogy about an invisible dragon in his book "The Demon-Haunted World - Science as a candle in the dark", which sums up my points.

A fire-breathing dragon lives in my garage"

Suppose I seriously make such an assertion to you. Surely you'd want to check it out, see for yourself. There have been innumerable stories of dragons over the centuries, but no real evidence. What an opportunity!

"Show me," you say. I lead you to my garage. You look inside and see a ladder, empty paint cans, an old tricycle -- but no dragon.

"Where's the dragon?" you ask.

"Oh, she's right here," I reply, waving vaguely. "I neglected to mention that she's an invisible dragon."

You propose spreading flour on the floor of the garage to capture the dragon's footprints.

"Good idea," I say, "but this dragon floats in the air."

Then you'll use an infrared sensor to detect the invisible fire.

"Good idea, but the invisible fire is also heatless."

You'll spray-paint the dragon and make her visible.

"Good idea, but she's an incorporeal dragon and the paint won't stick." And so on. I counter every physical test you propose with a special explanation of why it won't work.

Now, what's the difference between an invisible, incorporeal, floating dragon who spits heatless fire and no dragon at all? If there's no way to disprove my contention, no conceivable experiment that would count against it, what does it mean to say that my dragon exists?[/size]

What does it mean to say that Zeus can or cannot create a stone heavier than he can life?

 

[JoeDawg]

For the naive notion of omnipoitence.

Not sure what you're saying here.

 

[PhysiksFreak]

Zeus could indeed create a boulder he couldn't lift, but then when he wants to lift it, he could make himself stronger and lift it... as long as Hera didn't make the boulder even heavier when poor old Zeus wasn't looking.

That's damn true. Why not? after all ,he IS the father of the gods., and I doubt that even Hera could do anything(I could be wrong here - I'm not a greek mythology guru/pundit). And as for dragons - I personally believe that the stories themselves are proof they exist. They may not necessarily live in our dimension, but may have gone to another(dragons are known for their magical prowess), when Christianity came across the globe, and people started hunting and killing them, for example, St.George, by branding them the embodiment of Satan.