Sorites problem or problem of the Heap

It was then that it became apparent to me that these dilemmas – and indeed, many others – are manifestations of a more general problem that affects certain kinds of decision-making. They are all instances of the so-called ‘Sorites’ problem, or ‘the problem of the heap’. The problem is this: if you have a heap of pebbles, and you start removing pebbles one at a time, exactly at what point does the heap cease to be a heap? The heap I want to employ to illustrate this problem is the heap of hair that used to adorn my head, before time weeded my cranium.

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Photographic evidence shows that in 1980 I had a full head of hair, while in 1990 I was bald. It follows from this that some time in the 1980s I became bald. However, it seems impossible – or daft – to state when it was I crossed the boundary – to say, for example, that I became bald at 8:30 p.m. on 27th August 1987. And yet there must have been a moment between the two dates when I became bald, otherwise I would not have arrived at the state of being bald by the time 1990 came. The fundamental problem is that of mapping a dichotomous distinction – not-bald versus bald – on to what is essentially a continuous process of hair loss.

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When we try to apply ethical principles to the slippery material of everyday life, we are all of us in the uncomfortable position of having to dichotomise over a continuum.