Epictetus · c. 50 – c. 135 CE
Discourses 1.8 ¶1 — Epictetus
From “That the Faculties Are Not Safe to the Uninstructed”
Translation by George Long (1877)
Epictetus, Discourses 1.8 ¶1
In as many ways as we can change things which are equivalent to one another, in just so many ways we can change the forms of arguments (ἐπιχειρήματα) and enthymemes (ἐνθυμήματα) in argumentation. This is an instance: if you have borrowed and not repaid, you owe me the money: you have not borrowed and you have not repaid; then you do not owe me the money. To do this skillfully is suitable to no man more than to the philosopher; for if the enthymeme is an imperfect syllogism, it is plain that he who has been exercised in the perfect syllogism must be equally expert in the imperfect also.
Cite this passage
Epictetus, Discourses 1.8 ¶1, tr. George Long (1877)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/discourses/1.8.1
Epictetus, Discourses (as recorded by Arrian), tr. George Long (1877). Text: Standard Ebooks (CC0). Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesA short technical note on logic, observing that arguments can be rewritten in many equivalent forms and that a philosopher practised in complete arguments will also handle abbreviated ones.
Older wording
- “enthymemes”
- — short arguments with an unstated premise
- “syllogism”
- — a formal argument with two premises and a conclusion
Themes and situations
- Learning and progress
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