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Theophrastus · Fragments §63e.1

Wholly Hypothetical Syllogisms by Analogy

Passage 62 of 196 · Greek

Summary

The text discusses the characteristics of completely hypothetical syllogisms, which Theophrastus calls 'by analogy', and explains why they are not syllogisms in the strict sense but rather syllogisms from hypothesis.

§63e.1Fr. 63e Δόξουσι γὰρ οἱ διʼ ὅλων ὑποθετικοὶ, οὓς Θ. κατὰ ἀναλογίαν λέγει, οἷοί εἰσιν οἱ διὰ τριῶν λεγόμενοι, μηκέτι ὑποπίπτειν τῇ διὰ τῆς ἐκλογῆς δείξει.
For the hypothetical syllogisms through and through, which Theophrastus calls 'by analogy'—such as those called 'through three'—will seem no longer to fall under the proof by selection.
Λέγει δὲ αὐτοὺς ὁ Θ. κατὰ ἀναλογίαν, ἐπειδὴ αἵ τε προτάσεις ἀνάλογοι καὶ τὸ συμπέρασμα ταῖς προτάσεσιν· ἐν γὰρ αὐτοῖς ὁμοιότης ἐστίν.
And Theophrastus calls them 'by analogy' because both the premises are analogous and the conclusion is analogous to the premises; for there is a similarity in them.
Ἢ οὐδὲ συλλογισμοὶ κυρίως καὶ ἁπλῶς ἐκεῖνοι, ἀλλὰ τὸ ὅλον τοῦτο, ἐξ ὑποθέσεως συλλογισμοί·
Or are those not even syllogisms in the proper and simple sense, but on the whole, syllogisms from hypothesis?
οὐδὲν γὰρ εἶναι ἢ μὴ εἶναι δεικνύουσι.
For they do not prove that anything is or is not.

Notes

  1. §63e.1Δόξουσι ... ὑποπίπτειν — The verb δόξουσι (future third-person plural of δοκέω, 'seem') is used in a personal construction with the nominative subject οἱ διʼ ὅλων ὑποθετικοὶ and the infinitive ὑποπίπτειν, rather than an impersonal accusative-with-infinitive construction.
  2. §63e.1τὸ συμπέρασμα ταῖς προτάσεσιν — The adjective ἀνάλογον and the copula are omitted in this clause, completing the sense 'the conclusion [is analogous] to the premises.' The dative ταῖς προτάσεσιν is governed by the omitted adjective.
  3. §63e.1οὐδὲν γὰρ εἶναι ἢ μὴ εἶναι δεικνύουσι — The infinitives εἶναι and μὴ εἶναι function as the direct objects of the transitive verb δεικνύουσι ('they show/prove'). It expresses the proof that something exists or does not exist, or that a state of affairs is or is not the case.

Cite this passage

Theophrastus, Fragments §63e.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0093.tlg010x09.humanitext-grc1:63e.1

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