25. Buridan the donkey Buridan was really very hungry. It all started with the fact that he promised himself that from now on all his decisions should be absolutely reasonable (logical). The problem was that he had run out of food, but he lived the same distance from two

DONKEY AND CAMEL V.: People diligently study the problems of history and modernity. They establish all sorts of organizations and institutions to promote justice, health, education, peace and more. Why is it that terrible problems are not only

A HORSE AND A DONKEY A horse and a donkey were coming from the market. The donkey was loaded above its head, and the horse was running lightly. “Be a friend,” the donkey asked halfway, “help me!” Take part of the load! But the horse pretended not to hear. “I can’t bear it anymore!” Help! - the donkey begged a little

DEAD DONKEY Moishe bought a donkey from an old peasant for one hundred dollars. The peasant was supposed to bring him a donkey the next day, but at the appointed time he came without a donkey. “Sorry, but the donkey is dead,” the peasant said bitterly. “Well, then return my hundred dollars!” “I can’t.”

Buridan's Donkey (?ne De Buridan) The name of the 14th century French philosopher Jean Buridan is known today exclusively thanks to this very donkey, the parable of which is attributed to him, although in none of his surviving works is any donkey mentioned. What is it all about?

The philosophical question known as “Buridan’s donkey” will always excite the minds of mankind. Here we will analyze the meaning of the phraseological unit, its origin, and how not to become this very donkey.

The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle, who lived in the fourth century BC, told his students and listeners a parable. In his Buridan story, the donkey is an indecisive man who dies of thirst and hunger. This person is within walking distance of food and food and does not know what to choose for his salvation.
What Aristotle really meant was that if a person is faced with such a choice, he should choose what he thinks will turn out to be the greatest good for him. Much later, in the Middle Ages, the scholastic philosopher Jean Buridan retold this parable in different words.

BURIDAN'S DONKEY PROBLEM

Actually there is no problem. There is a donkey dying of hunger, and there are two piles of seemingly identical hay. What to choose? According to the parable, the donkey can endlessly decide and in the end simply die of hunger. Also, a lop-eared animal can simply choose one of two haystacks and start eating. Jean Buridan was able to formulate the question of choice in exactly this way. Is it possible to make a rational choice if it is not entirely possible to calculate what this or that decision will lead to? True, according to rumors that have survived to this day, Buridan, when telling this story to his listeners, always asked if he had seen donkeys die in such cases. Otherwise, all of Asia would simply be littered with the corpses of eared animals. In fact, animals are not tormented by the problem of choice; this property is inherent only in humans.

EITHER PAN OR MISSING

In fact, Buridan's ass is each of us at least several times a week. How often do you catch yourself thinking about what is best for you to do in a particular situation and which of two evils to choose? This question is illustrated very well by the famous joke about a monkey who could not decide who to join - the smart ones or the beautiful ones.
There is not and cannot be a single correct answer in such situations, because a person has his own worldview and worldview.

HEADS OR TAILS?

Let's start with the simplest option - when you need to choose one of two alternatives (things, objects, possibilities). In such a situation, the “heads or tails” principle is often used, which, of course, greatly simplifies the selection procedure itself, but automatically presupposes that the chooser has a certain “submission to fate.” As they say, “it’s hit or miss.” Although I recently came across a note on the Internet that claims that a tossed coin is governed by some complex physical laws.

DON'T LIT!

However, even without the intervention of complex scientific theories, they managed to make the choice of two equivalent alternatives extremely difficult back in ancient times, by inventing the well-known parable about Buridan’s donkey, which died of hunger, unable to choose which of two identical haystacks it was better for him to start his life with. meal. The parable demonstrates what very often happens in many scientific discussions about choice, where one problem is imperceptibly replaced by another. A real donkey would probably have been smarter than the philosophers who invented it and would hardly have bothered with the problem of the absolute identity of two haystacks, but would have obeyed the instinct of self-preservation, which prescribes to satisfy hunger at all costs, and not to solve complex logical problems. He would just start eating one of the haystacks! And I would have a second bite for future use. It would be nice for a mere mortal to use this very “donkey strategy”, that is, to ask not the question of implementing a complex pattern, but to remember the purpose of his choice. The donkey's main task is to eat, and not to choose the best of the haystacks. You immediately understand that only people are capable of so sophisticatedly fooling themselves with speculative reasoning to the detriment of their own stomach.

STEP INTO THE FUTURE

The problem is that any choice is always a certain choice of the future. And we evaluate it, already looking back from the “resulting” future, and decide whether it was successful or not very successful. Therefore, the task itself - to make a good choice - has no solution in the present tense. You can only take certain actions that will or will not bring a positive result in the future. As a result, the problem of choice often comes down not to choice as such, but to the problem of a person’s lack of an image of the desired future. To the inability to formulate our own desire - what do we need? That is, behind the problem of choice we often hide the problem of introspection. We can't decide what we need.

"FREEDOM OF CHOICE

Often behind the problem of choice there are “hidden” problems generated, so to speak, by a certain organization of our consciousness and education based on currently “current” values. After all, in order for a person to lose sleep when deciding which brand of clothing to prefer, this very choice of “brand” must be significant for him. If you take a closer look, “freedom of choice” is allowed in modern society almost only in the sphere of consumption. At one time, even the very concept of “freedom” somehow imperceptibly “stuck together” with the ability to choose goods and services. The abundance of goods has become a symbol of the free world. But what is freedom? Is it that they strictly dictate to you how you should look at work, introducing the concept of a “dress code”? Or is it that to a certain degree of wealth, society dictates everything to you - the brand of car, place of residence, method and place of recreation? And only the richest are again allowed to “wonder” and decide at their own discretion. There is an old joke about how a young employee came to a cool company, where there was very strict control over compliance with all modern standards, from clothing to a strict smoking ban, and suddenly sees a man in faded jeans and a faded T-shirt smoking by the window. He is surprised and quite loudly begins to wonder who it is. To which he receives an answer in a frightened whisper: “Hush, hush, don’t disturb him! The last time he thought like this, our company earned tens of millions of dollars!”

FEAR AS A STIMULUS

Quite often, choices, especially in personal relationships, are made out of fear or under duress of circumstances. Not everyone has the courage to risk waiting for “their” person. More than once I have heard from ladies who came for consultations about unsettled family relationships that the motivation for marrying this particular man was: “there was no other”, “he was the best there was”, “it was time to have a child”. Another thing is that life is such a complex and unpredictable thing, and human relationships are such a mysterious substance that sometimes happy marriages happen even with such flimsy foundations. Even “on the fly.”

THE MEANING OF PATIENCE

Self-control in the face of choice is also an art. If you can’t choose for a long time, most likely you are not very happy with both options - and circumstances do not allow you to wait for the third. If you nevertheless made your choice from two alternatives that are not entirely satisfactory, then be prepared to accept responsibility for the obvious - most likely, after some time you will not be satisfied with your choice and will have to choose again. So don’t invent people a place in your life, wait a little, and they themselves will take their rightful place.

RULES

So, before choosing, it’s worth considering a simple list of four questions: “Why do we choose? On what basis do we choose (what are we guided by?) In what situation do we choose?” And only then - “What do we choose?”

1. First, decide on the purpose of your choice - ask yourself a question about the reasons. Don’t forget that a clear understanding of “why” makes any “what” elementary.

2. Remember that often people in a situation of time pressure or the special significance of a win begin to introduce “secondary” reasons - from insignificant to fictitious. For example, when playing roulette or lottery, they begin to base their choices on “significant” dates, birthdays, etc., attributing to them the properties of “lucky” numbers. So if you have to make a choice under extreme conditions, trust your intuition. Especially when it comes to your professional competence.

3. There are some things you should come to terms with in advance and “don’t bother.” So, for example, in situations where we make choices under conditions beyond our control, we can only try to reduce risks. That is, either try to “calculate the risks” (which is practically impossible in modern conditions), or “minimize” possible losses, risking in advance only the amount (those resources) that we can lose relatively painlessly.

4. One more opportunity should not be overlooked. After all, we don’t always really need to make a choice between something. Often the choice is to give it up. The simplest strategy is to reduce the value of what we are offered to choose or would like to receive, but there is no such opportunity. Let us at least recall the famous Krylov fable about the fox and the grapes: “It looks good, but it’s green - there are no ripe berries: you’ll immediately set your teeth on edge!”

The story about the donkey has very ancient origins. The foundation was laid by the ancient philosopher Aristotle. In his works, he preferred to substantiate all conclusions with examples that his contemporary could observe in the world around him, since only practice and empirics can form the basis of a theory. Describing the difficulties that a person with freedom of choice will face, this ancient Greek sage suggested imagining a donkey standing on a path between two lawns and cannot decide where to go to graze.

In the Middle Ages, the works of ancient authors were studied selectively. Contrary to established ideas about total censorship and the raging Inquisition, in those days there were also philosophers and scientists, albeit loyal to the church and ready, if necessary, to support their colleagues from the theological workshop.

Among the prominent scientists of the Middle Ages was Jean Buridan. His memory has been preserved thanks to his works on mechanics and commentaries on the works of Aristotle. It's interesting that none of the books written by Buridan make any mention of the above-mentioned donkey paradox.

Nevertheless, the story of how Buridan, telling about the difficulty of choice, gave the example of a donkey, has been preserved in the people's memory. There are different versions of this story. In some, the scientist himself, mocking his pet, offers him two pieces of hay equal in size and quality. There is even a dramatic ending to this event - an animal unable to make a choice dies of hunger. In other versions of the retelling, Jean Buridan is only the theorist of feeding donkeys with hay.

One can come to the conclusion that Jean Buridan himself came to the conclusions that Aristotle had made before him. Because of this, the paradox is remembered with the name of the thinker closest to modernity.

The meaning of phraseology

The image of a crossroads where the hero of the story spends time is characteristic even of folk tales, whose history is much more ancient than that of philosophical teachings. From time immemorial, people have noticed that making a choice is very difficult. In the paradox, this situation is reflected most clearly and reliably. The tragic ending of the experiment once again emphasizes the moral of the story.

Buridan's donkey is a person who finds it difficult to decide among the prospects that life offers him. There may be several reasons for indecisiveness in choosing your option:

• the desire to get double benefits without taking any risks. A person waits, watches for changes in order to settle on a win-win option;
• inability to make independent decisions, lack of a clear understanding of what exactly the soul desires;
• a state of being overwhelmed by what is offered. If a person has an underestimated assessment of the world around him, then even to a standard alternative he can respond with a state of shock.

In this case, the one who is called Buridan’s donkey is simply wasting time, since the choice should be made as quickly as possible. Offers have a certain expiration date and will soon become irrelevant. The image of the animal itself, which people do not consider very intelligent, suggests that this title can be attributed to sarcastic, mocking.

0 If you are interested in popular catchphrases, then you have come to the right place. Now the topic of phraseological units is again in great demand, because people always want to stand out from the crowd. Don’t forget to bookmark our website so you can check back with us periodically. Today we will talk about a fairly well-known expression, this Buridanov's donkey, meaning and origin you can read a little lower.
However, before you continue, I would like to recommend you a couple of other interesting articles on the topic of proverbs and sayings. For example, what does it mean to wash the bones; how to understand The soul has gone to the heels; the meaning of the phraseological unit Awl in a sack cannot be hidden; what does it mean to be born, etc.
So let's continue What does Buridanov's donkey mean??

Buridanov's donkey- this is the name given to an extremely indecisive person who hesitates in choosing between two equivalent decisions

Asinus Buridani inter duo prata (Buridanov's donkey between two lawns).

Since ancient times, philosophers have been engaged in endless assumptions and conjectures, without trying to prove their words in practice.
One of these theories was that the actions of all living beings, without exception, depend not so much on their own will, but on external factors.

One medieval scientist became interested in this question. Jean Buridan/Buridan, who lived in sunny France in the 14th century.
Although it is worth noting that the paradox named after him was known back in the time of Aristotle.

In fact Buridan in his writings he never mentioned this hypothetical donkey, but he touched on this problem in a deeper sense. According to him, a person who is faced with this task must make a choice towards the greater good. Although this French scientist admitted that such a choice could last for some time while a person is busy assessing the results of each of the two elections.

In fact, they started talking about this donkey later; other philosophers exaggerated this problem and made it easier to understand. That's when the one appeared Buridanov's donkey, which froze at an equal distance from two haystacks of equal size and weight. As a result, this ungulate died of hunger, unable to give preference to any of these identical haystacks.

If we consider this idea within the framework of ordinary logic, then we can safely say that it does not matter what kind of hay the donkey chooses, it is important that he does not die of hunger. The option of death should not be considered at all, since nature and instincts will not allow him to do such a thing suicide.

Now we do not know whether someone in ancient times could actually carry out this experiment, but only since that time, people who hesitate for a long time, are indecisive, and are unable to make a decision for a long time, are sometimes called “Buridan’s donkeys.”

In mathematics there is Weierstrass's theorem, which can be compared to Buridan's donkey paradox:

If the donkey wants to go to the left haystack (If the continuous function at one point is positive), or eat the right haystack (and at the other - negative), or the donkey will remain in place and die of hunger (there is a point somewhere between them, where the function is equal to zero).

After reading this article, you learned meaning of Buridan's donkey, origin, and you won't get there again

Derived from Buridan's donkey .

However, not everyone knows who he is. Therefore, the idea came up to make a short note about it on the site.

Buridanov's donkey

There is not much to say about Buridan's donkey himself, since he died tragically, unable to make a choice between two identical armfuls of hay.

Purely mathematical death. Naturally, what attracted me to Buridan’s donkey was not her, but his problem. Indeed, how to find a constructive solution in a difficult situation of choice?

It is also not easy to explain why the donkey is Buridanov. The fact is that the scholastic Jean Buridan has serious problems with the copyright of the donkey. This character is not found anywhere in his works. But to declare that Buridanov is an ass - not Buridanov, also somehow stupid. In some ways this is reminiscent of the Buridan’s donkey situation described above. It turns out unfairly: Aristotle wrote exactly about such an animal, after him - Dante, but the authorship ultimately went to Jean Buridan.

Apparently, Buridan liked to discuss the situation of Aristotle's donkey with his students, developing his approach to the problem of free will. And over time, in the collective student consciousness, the donkey became Buridan’s.

Having started the note, I also found myself in a difficult situation of choice. After all, there is nothing to add on the merits of the question. One can, of course, reproduce various clever things about this. List which of the philosophers, starting with Leibniz, somehow kicked the poor donkey and its owner. But I don't want to. Personally, it seems to me that for our time Buridan’s donkey is a parable about what exactly a person is superior to robots .

A constructive solution for me unexpectedly emerged in shifting my attention from the donkey to Buridan. It would seem, why might we be interested in the French scholastic of the 14th century, who interprets Aristotle for himself? However, Buridan turned out to be a very lively and diverse personality. And the more I became acquainted with fragmentary facts and stories from his life, the stronger the desire was to put them together and see what happens.

Jean Buridan

Information about Buridan, including the dates of his birth and death, is mostly inaccurate, and information about his personal life is generally similar to legends. Therefore, I will tell the story of Jean Buridan, which is true only to one degree or another. At least I didn’t come up with anything on my own.

Student

Jean was born at the end of the 13th century near the town of Bethune in Picardy, in the north of France. As a young cleric, Jean entered the University of Paris (Sorbonne), where he was first assigned to the College of Cardinal Lemoine, and later became a member of the College of Navarre. Both colleges were founded after the birth of Buridan: by Cardinal Lemoine in 1303 and by the Queen of Navarre in 1304.

Jean's family was not rich - at the College of Cardinal Lemoine he was awarded a scholarship for needy students. Buridan subsequently became famous among his colleagues for his ability to attract grants and scholarships for the work he did at the University of Paris.

And for good reason: he managed to attract as many sponsors as three popes : first - John XXII, then - Benedict XII (he appointed Buridan as a canon of the church in Arras), and subsequently - Clement VI. By the way, he studied and had fun with Clement in his youth. As a result, a document from 1349 places him among those few teachers (masters) who are able to do without financial support from the University.

By the way, representatives of the province of Picardy, 60 theologians and 40 philosophers, studied at the College of Cardinal Lemoine. The bulk of the Picardy Nation student community, to which Jean belonged, were students from Flanders. (In medieval universities they were united along national lines, and each community had its own self-government bodies and its own territory at the Sorbonne.)

Since students and teachers from all over Europe gathered at the Sorbonne, the well-known Englishman William Ockham (with his completely unsafe “Occam’s razor”) is considered Buridan’s teacher. And the most famous student of Buridan himself was Albert of Saxony.

We are still far from what we were then level of globalization in education. Back then, there were significantly more students studying abroad than now, when they number only 2%. And in general, Europe was not yet divided by clearly established state borders.

Lovelace

From his youth, Jean loved to dress well and loved women. Moreover, over time he gained fame as a kind of Parisian Don Juan. To be fair, it should be said that for students of that time it was considered natural to cause troubles in the city and seduce pretty townswomen.

This was facilitated by the special status of the entire university corporation. The University of Paris was a state within a state, even to the point of having its own “police.” And having had fun in the city, the students only needed to quickly find themselves on their sovereign territory.

Of course, among the students, Jean Buridan was by no means the only one who was greedy for the female sex. So, once Jean Buridan hit the future Pope Clement VI on the head with his shoe (apparently he hit it powerfully, if this story has survived to this day). Because he succeeded in competing for the affections of the lovely wife of a German shoemaker.

They say about Buridan that he was the queen's lover Navarre Margaret of Burgundy, wife of the future king of France Louis X. And also Joan I of Burgundy, wife of King Philip the Long. However, Buridan was not lucky with the queens - in fact, fate brought him together only with Jeanne of Burgundy, nicknamed Lame, the wife of King Philip VI of Valois. The confusion with the queens occurred due to the fact that both Joan of Burgundy were involved in the story of the Nel Tower.

Jeanne I of Burgundy sold the Nelles Palace on the banks of the Seine to Philip VI of Valois, retaining only the “House of Students” founded by her. Subsequently, it turned into the famous Burgundian College at the University of Paris. The money from the sale went to the maintenance of the “Students' House”. And around 1330, Philip VI of Valois gave the Nel Palace to his wife Jeanne of Burgundy - Lame.

Zhanna Chronozhka she was smart, but ugly, and at the same time cunning and cruel. Therefore, with the assistance of her servants, she subtly satisfied her feminine passions. They promised the student a romantic date with a noble lady and an attractive amount of money. And the queen received a young lover for the night, who was then killed and thrown in a bag into the Seine.

Obviously, our ladies' man was not inclined to refuse romantic proposals. Later poet Francois Villon This is how this adventure was reflected in “The Ballad of the Ladies of Old Times”:
Where is the queen, by whose command
The ill-fated Buridan was executed,
Sewn into a bag, drowned in the Seine?..

No, everything turned out to be not so fatal, we answer the poet, who himself miraculously escaped hanging several times. Buridan loved to question traditions and authorities. In particular, Zhanna Lame Legs' habit of saying goodbye to her lovers forever. How he managed this is unknown. Perhaps his loyal students came to his aid, since everything was nearby.

Rumors about what was happening in the Nel Tower excited the Parisians so much that her husband had to take Jeanne the Lame to one of the Burgundian castles. Having adjusted a little with France while her husband fought with the British, Jeanne died of the plague in 1349.

In my opinion, it follows that Buridan was very capable person : he managed to combine the glory of a Parisian dandy and womanizer with the glory of the most significant French scholastic of the 14th century.

In continuation of this articletells about Jean Buridan as a teacher, medieval scientist and public figure.

We can assume that since you found yourself on this page of the site and even reached the end of this story about Jean Buridan, then you like or have to (this is more about students) read books. Therefore, I decided to draw your attention to the material about choosing books to read and, in addition to it, - small a collection of advice from writers on how to choose the best book.

Just use networks buttons below .