Diogenes Laërtius · fl. 3rd century CE
Lives of Eminent Philosophers 7.44 — Diogenes Laërtius on the Stoics
Translation by R. D. Hicks (1925)
Diogenes Laërtius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers 7.44
Reported speech · Diogenes Laërtius on the Stoics
these including both false and true and negative arguments, sorites and the like, whether defective, insoluble, or conclusive, and the fallacies known as the Veiled, or Horned, No man, and The Mowers. The second main head mentioned above as belonging to Dialectic is that of language, wherein are included written language and the parts of speech, with a discussion of errors in syntax and in single words, poetical diction, verbal ambiguities, euphony and music, and according to some writers chapters on terms, divisions, and style.
Cite this passage
Diogenes Laërtius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers 7.44 (on the Stoics), tr. R. D. Hicks (1925)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/lives-of-the-stoics/7.44
Diogenes Laërtius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers, Book VII, tr. R. D. Hicks (Loeb, 1925). Text: Perseus Digital Library (CC BY-SA 4.0). Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesContinues the list of logic topics by naming famous puzzle arguments and fallacies, then turns to language itself: writing, parts of speech, grammatical mistakes, ambiguity, the sound of words and style. A technical catalogue.
Older wording
- “sorites”
- — a chain argument built from many small steps, like the heap paradox
- “euphony”
- — pleasing sound of words
- “syntax”
- — the way words are arranged into sentences
Themes and situations
- Speech and silence
- Judgements and impressions
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