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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §50.16.177.pr

Definition and Nature of the Sorites Paradox

Passage 8991 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Ulpianus defines the nature of the sophism known to the Greeks as 'sorites', wherein an argument is led from truth to falsehood by minute steps.

[IDEM libro quadragensimo septimo ad Sabinum. ] §50.16.177.prNatura cauillationis, quam Graeci σωρίτην appellauerunt, haec est, ut ab euidenter ueris per breuissimas mutationes disputatio ad ea, quae euidenter falsa sunt, perducatur.
[THE SAME, in the forty-seventh book on Sabinus.] The nature of the sophism which the Greeks called 'sorites' is this: that by very minute changes, the argument is led from what is patently true to what is patently false.

Notes

  1. §50.16.177.prhaec est, ut ... perducatur — The demonstrative pronoun haec refers forward to the subsequent ut-clause functioning substantively. The ut-clause, taking the present subjunctive passive perducatur, defines and explains the specific nature of the cauillatio.
  2. §50.16.177.prab euidenter ueris ... ad ea, quae euidenter falsa sunt — A contrastive structure meaning 'from what is patently true to what is patently false'. The former uses the neuter plural ablative of the adjective uerus (ueris) substantively, whereas the latter employs the neuter plural demonstrative pronoun ea followed by the relative clause quae euidenter falsa sunt. Although grammatically asymmetrical, they are semantically parallel.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §50.16.177.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:50.16.177.pr

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