English Dictionary

Buridan's ass

name

The hypothetical donkey, in context of certainly dying of hunger or thirst by being unable to choose between the two equidistant options.

Buridan's ass couldn't decide which bale of hay to eat.

意味（1）

The hypothetical donkey, in context of certainly dying of hunger or thirst by being unable to choose between the two equidistant options.

Buridan is best-known to philosophers for the example of Buridan's Ass, starving to death between two equidistant and equally tempting bales of hay, …

意味（2）

The hypothetical donkey, as a typical character of a number of philosophical paradoxes involving equally valuable incentives to action, and the nature of the possible choices and outcomes.

Since either haystack is better than starvation, and since neither haystack is known to be worse than the other, Buridan's ass has a good reason to choose either. Suppose it chooses haystack A, rejecting haystack B as well as starvation.