Where The Heap Ends
Written by Studio AM.
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Take ten thousand grains of sand piled on a table. That is a heap. Now suppose that removing one grain cannot turn a heap into a non-heap. Repeat that apparently harmless rule, and it eventually tells you that one grain is a heap. The puzzle is called the sorites paradox, from the Greek word for heap.
The starting judgment, the small-step rule, and the conclusion cannot all be accepted together. Philosophers disagree about the best response. Some accounts reject sharp boundaries for vague terms; others defend sharp boundaries that we cannot know. Still others change how borderline statements are evaluated. The paradox does not itself establish one of these solutions.
A related practical difficulty arises when rules use terms such as young, poor, or dangerous. A policy may require a precise cutoff even when ordinary language supplies no obvious one. Setting it arbitrarily, without considering evidence or purpose, would be hard to defend. A chosen threshold can instead be justified by the task it serves and the costs of placing it elsewhere.
The practical lesson offered here is to explain why a boundary is useful, while distinguishing that decision from a complete theory of what vague words mean.
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Questions
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Question 1 of 4
What is the main claim of the passage?
The answer is C: The heap paradox challenges our use of vague terms; practical cutoffs need justification rather than an assumed obvious boundary.
The passage distinguishes competing philosophical responses from the practical task of justifying a threshold.
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Question 2 of 4
Where does the word sorites come from?
The answer is B: The Greek word for heap.
The first paragraph says the Greeks named it the sorites, from their word for heap.
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Question 3 of 4
Why might a policy cutoff need justification beyond the ordinary meaning of a word?
The answer is D: The policy needs a precise threshold even when ordinary usage supplies no obvious one.
The third paragraph distinguishes a policy's need for precision from the uncertain boundary of ordinary usage.
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Question 4 of 4
What does “arbitrarily” mean in the third paragraph?
The answer is A: without a reason based on the relevant evidence or purpose.
The following phrase defines the problem as choosing without considering evidence or purpose.
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