 The Megarian philosopher Eubulides (4th century BC) is usually credited with the first formulation of the puzzle. (The name ‘sorites’ derives from the Greek word soros, meaning ‘heap’.) Although we don’t know his motivations for introducing it (along with several other legendary puzzles), the paradox was later used by Greek philosophers as a dialectical weapon, most notably by the Sceptics against the Stoics’ claims to knowledge.