Yes, you’re right. You can defeat the paradox on mathematical grounds, without having to appeal to physics. But Zeno could have defeated it on his own without using any math, simply by realizing that his metaphor was not paying rent.
I think ArisKatsaris (on the sibling comment) is right: Zeno’s whole goal was to prove that physics doesn’t work (ok, he didn’t call it “physics”, but still), so using physics to disprove his paradox would be nonsensical.
Zeno’s argument was that movement was an illusion, that all was one—that was the point of his paradoxes. The fact that things seemed to move, in combination with his paradox, proved (to him) that reality was an illusion.
Yes, you’re right. You can defeat the paradox on mathematical grounds, without having to appeal to physics. But Zeno could have defeated it on his own without using any math, simply by realizing that his metaphor was not paying rent.
I think ArisKatsaris (on the sibling comment) is right: Zeno’s whole goal was to prove that physics doesn’t work (ok, he didn’t call it “physics”, but still), so using physics to disprove his paradox would be nonsensical.
Zeno’s argument was that movement was an illusion, that all was one—that was the point of his paradoxes. The fact that things seemed to move, in combination with his paradox, proved (to him) that reality was an illusion.