Diogenes Laërtius · fl. 3rd century CE
Lives of Eminent Philosophers 7.67 — Diogenes Laërtius on the Stoics
Translation by R. D. Hicks (1925)
Diogenes Laërtius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers 7.67
Reported speech · Diogenes Laërtius on the Stoics
An imperative is something which conveys a command: e.g. Go thou to the waters of Inachus. An adjurative utterance is something ... A vocative utterance is something the use of which implies that you are addressing some one; for instance: Most glorious son of Atreus, Agamemnon, lord of men. A quasi-proposition is that which, having the enunciation of a judgement, yet in consequence of the intensified tone or emotion of one of its parts falls outside the class of judgements proper, e.g. Yea, fair indeed the Parthenon! How like to Priam’s sons the cowherd is!
Cite this passage
Diogenes Laërtius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers 7.67 (on the Stoics), tr. R. D. Hicks (1925)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/lives-of-the-stoics/7.67
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 notesGives examples of other kinds of utterance, a command, a form of address and an exclamation that looks like a statement but carries emotion, using lines from Greek poetry. The text of one definition is cut off. Logic terminology.
Older wording
- “adjurative”
- — an utterance that solemnly commands or appeals
- “vocative”
- — a word or phrase used to address someone directly
- “quasi-proposition”
- — an emotional exclamation that only looks like a statement
Themes and situations
- Speech and silence
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