Humanitext Reader

Theophrastus · Fragments §61.1

Reducing Arguments to Figures Versus General Analysis

Passage 56 of 196 · Greek

Summary

The passage distinguishes between reducing specific arguments to the figures and outlining a general method for analyzing and reducing all problems, referencing Theophrastus' works on these subjects.

§61.1Fr. 61 Οὐ ταὐτὸν δέ ἐστιν ἀνάγειν τε λόγους εἰς τὰ σχήματα, ὡς ἔχει τὰ Θεοφράστου δύο τὰ ἐπιγραφόμενα Ἀνηγμένων λόγων εἰς τὰ σχήματα, καὶ μέθοδον ὑπογράψαι διʼ ἧς πάντα τὰ προβλήματα ἀναλύειν καὶ ἀνάγειν δυνησόμεθα ὑπογράφει δὲ τὴν αὐτὴν ταύτην μέθοδον καὶ Θ. ἐν τῷ ἐπιγραφομένῳ περὶ Ἀναλύο σεως Συλλογισμῶν.
It is not the same thing to reduce arguments to the figures—as is the case with Theophrastus' two works entitled "Arguments Reduced to the Figures"—and to outline a method by means of which we will be able to analyze and reduce all problems. Indeed, Theophrastus too outlines this very same method in the work entitled "On the Analysis of Syllogisms".

Notes

  1. §61.1Οὐ ταὐτὸν δέ ἐστιν ἀνάγειν τε ... καὶ μέθοδον ὑπογράψαι — The main syntax of this sentence is a contrastive structure: "it is not the same thing to do A and to do B". The two infinitive phrases ἀνάγειν (to reduce) and ὑπογράψαι (to outline) are linked by the correlatives τε... καί, serving as the subject of the impersonal expression Οὐ ταὐτὸν ἐστιν.
  2. §61.1ὡς ἔχει τὰ Θεοφράστου δύο — The phrase ὡς ἔχει is an idiomatic parenthetical clause meaning "as is the case with..." or "as it stands with...". The subject is the following neuter plural phrase τὰ Θεοφράστου δύο (the two [books] of Theophrastus), and the verb ἔχει is used intransitively to denote a state.
  3. §61.1Ἀνηγμένων λόγων εἰς τὰ σχήματα — The title of Theophrastus' work. The word ἀνηγμένων is the perfect passive participle genitive plural of ἀνάγω, meaning "(arguments) having been reduced". It functions either with an implied preposition περί (about) or as a genitive of description/contents for the omitted noun "books".

Cite this passage

Theophrastus, Fragments §61.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0093.tlg010x09.humanitext-grc1:61.1

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