Humanitext Reader

Theophrastus · Fragments §62.1

Four Ways of Establishing an Assumed Premise

Passage 57 of 196 · Greek

Summary

Theophrastus states in the Prior Analytics that an assumed premise is established in one of four ways: by induction, from a hypothesis, by self-evidence, or through syllogisms.

§62.1Fr. 62 Καὶ Θ. δὲ ἐν τῷ πρώτῳ τῶν Προτέρων Ἀναλυτιαῶν λέγει τὸ προσλαμβανόμενον ἢ διʼ ἐπαγωγῆς τίθεσθαι ἢ καὶ αὐτὸ ἐξ ὑποθέσεως ἢ διʼ ἐνεργείας ἢ διὰ συλλογισμῶν.
And Theophrastus too in the first book of the Prior Analytics says that the assumed premise is established either by induction, or itself too from a hypothesis, or by self-evidence, or through syllogisms.

Notes

  1. Fr. 62Ἀναλυτιαῶν — The spelling Ἀναλυτιαῶν in the text is a typographical error or scribal mistake for the correct form Ἀναλυτικῶν ("Analytics").
  2. Fr. 62τὸ προσλαμβανόμενον — The "assumed premise" (proslambanomenon). In the context of logic, especially the hypothetical syllogistic developed by Theophrastus, it refers to the proposition added (corresponding to the minor premise) to the hypothetical major premise.
  3. Fr. 62διʼ ἐνεργείας — "By self-evidence" or "through actual operation". It means that the truth of a premise is shown as self-evident through direct presentation of facts or actual perception, without relying on further inference or hypothesis.

Cite this passage

Theophrastus, Fragments §62.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0093.tlg010x09.humanitext-grc1:62.1

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