Buridan's ass
/ (ˈbjʊərɪdənz) /
noun
philosophy
an example intended to show the deficiency of reason. An ass standing equidistant from two identical heaps of oats starves to death because reason provides no grounds for choosing to eat one rather than the other
Word Origin for Buridan's ass
named after Jean
Buridan, 14th-century French philosopher, to whom it was incorrectly attributed