378Ibid. b. 6: ἁπλῶς δ’ εἰπεῖν, ὅτι μάλιστα ποιεῖν ἄδηλον, πότερον τὸ προτεινόμενον ἢ τὸ ἀντικείμενον βούλεται λαβεῖν· ἀδήλου γὰρ ὄντος τοῦ πρὸς τὸν λόγον χρησίμου, μᾶλλον τὸ δοκοῦν αὑτοῖς τιθέασιν.
378Ibid. b. 6: ἁπλῶς δ’ εἰπεῖν, ὅτι μάλιστα ποιεῖν ἄδηλον, πότερον τὸ προτεινόμενον ἢ τὸ ἀντικείμενον βούλεται λαβεῖν· ἀδήλου γὰρ ὄντος τοῦ πρὸς τὸν λόγον χρησίμου, μᾶλλον τὸ δοκοῦν αὑτοῖς τιθέασιν.
379Ibid. b. 18: δεῖ δὲ καὶ αὐτόν ποτε αὑτῷ ἔνστασιν φέρειν· ἀνυπόπτως γὰρ ἔχουσιν οἱ ἀποκρινόμενοι πρὸς τοὺς δοκοῦντας δικαίως ἐπιχειρεῖν.
379Ibid. b. 18: δεῖ δὲ καὶ αὐτόν ποτε αὑτῷ ἔνστασιν φέρειν· ἀνυπόπτως γὰρ ἔχουσιν οἱ ἀποκρινόμενοι πρὸς τοὺς δοκοῦντας δικαίως ἐπιχειρεῖν.
380Ibid. b. 10, 20: χρήσιμον δὲ καὶ τὸ ἐπιλέγειν ὅτι σύνηθες καὶ λεγόμενον τὸ τοιοῦτον· ὀκνοῦσι γὰρ κινεῖν τὸ εἰωθός, ἔνστασιν μὴ ἔχοντες.
380Ibid. b. 10, 20: χρήσιμον δὲ καὶ τὸ ἐπιλέγειν ὅτι σύνηθες καὶ λεγόμενον τὸ τοιοῦτον· ὀκνοῦσι γὰρ κινεῖν τὸ εἰωθός, ἔνστασιν μὴ ἔχοντες.
381Ibid. b. 23: ἔτι τὸ μὴ σπουδάζειν.
381Ibid. b. 23: ἔτι τὸ μὴ σπουδάζειν.
382Ibid. b. 30-39: καὶ τὸ ἐπ’ ἐσχάτῳ ἐρωτᾶν ὃ μάλιστα βούλεται λαβεῖν· &c.
382Ibid. b. 30-39: καὶ τὸ ἐπ’ ἐσχάτῳ ἐρωτᾶν ὃ μάλιστα βούλεται λαβεῖν· &c.
383Topic. VIII. i. p. 157, a. 1-5: ἔτι τὸ μηκύνειν καὶ παρεμβάλλειν τὰ μηδὲν χρήσιμα πρὸς τὸν λόγον, καθάπερ οἱ ψευδογραφοῦντες· πολλῶν γὰρ ὄντων ἄδηλον ἐν ὁποίῳ τὸ ψεῦδος. διὸ καὶ λανθάνουσιν ἐνίοτε οἱ ἐρωτῶντες ἐν παραβύστῳ προστιθέντες ἃ καθ’ αὑτὰ προτεινόμενα οὐκ ἂν τεθείη.
383Topic. VIII. i. p. 157, a. 1-5: ἔτι τὸ μηκύνειν καὶ παρεμβάλλειν τὰ μηδὲν χρήσιμα πρὸς τὸν λόγον, καθάπερ οἱ ψευδογραφοῦντες· πολλῶν γὰρ ὄντων ἄδηλον ἐν ὁποίῳ τὸ ψεῦδος. διὸ καὶ λανθάνουσιν ἐνίοτε οἱ ἐρωτῶντες ἐν παραβύστῳ προστιθέντες ἃ καθ’ αὑτὰ προτεινόμενα οὐκ ἂν τεθείη.
Such are the multifarious suggestions addressed by Aristotle to the questioner for concealing his method of attack;384Concealment being the third of the four general heads relating to the treatment of premisses not immediately necessary for proof of the final refutative conclusion. On the other three general heads — Induction from particulars to an universal, Dignity, Clearness — Aristotle goes into less detail. For Clearness, he recommends that examples should be introduced; especially familiar examples, taken from well-known poets like Homer, not from obscure poets like Chœrilus.385
384Ibid. a. 6: εἰς μὲν οὖν πρύψιν τοῖς εἰρημένοις χρηστέον, &c.
384Ibid. a. 6: εἰς μὲν οὖν πρύψιν τοῖς εἰρημένοις χρηστέον, &c.
385Ibid. a. 14.
385Ibid. a. 14.
In regard to Induction, Aristotle points out an embarrassment often arising from the want of suitable universal names. When, after having obtained an affirmative answer about several similar particulars, you wish to put a question generalizing the result, you will sometimes find no universal term fitting the position. You are obliged to say: Will it not be so in all such cases? and this lets in a serious difficulty, how to know what other cases are like, and what are not. Here the respondent will often dispute your right to include this or that other particular.386You will do well to coin a new universal term fitting the situation.
386Ibid. ii. p. 157, a. 18-33. διὸ πειρατέον ἐπὶ πάντων τῶν τοιούτων ὀνοματοποιεῖν αὐτόν, &c.
386Ibid. ii. p. 157, a. 18-33. διὸ πειρατέον ἐπὶ πάντων τῶν τοιούτων ὀνοματοποιεῖν αὐτόν, &c.
If the respondent answers in the affirmative to several questions of similar particulars, but answers in the negative when you sum them up in an universal comprehending all similar cases, — you may require him to cite some particular case justifying his denial; though you cannot require him to do this before he has made the affirmative answers.387It is not sufficient that he should cite, as the single case of exception, the express case which forms the subject of the thesis: He ought to produce some distinct and independent instance, really comprised within the genus, and not merely connected with it by the link of an equivocal term.388If he produces an adverse instance really comprisedwithin the genus, you may perhaps be able to re-model your question, so as to make reserve for the basis on which this objection is founded. The respondent will then be compelled (unless he can foresee some new case of objection) to concede the universal with this special qualification; so that you will have gained all that you really require. Should the respondent continue to refuse, without producing any new case, he will transgress the rules of Dialectic; which recognize an universal affirmative, wherever there are numerous affirmative particulars without one assignable negative.389Indeed, if you know the universal to hold in many particular cases, and do not know of any others adverse, you may boldly put your question at once in reference to the universal (without going first through the series of particulars). The respondent will hardly venture to deny it, not having in his mind any negative particulars.390
387Ibid. a. 34-37.
387Ibid. a. 34-37.
388Ibid. a. 37-b. 8.
388Ibid. a. 37-b. 8.
389Topic. VIII. ix. p. 1577, b. 8-33. διαλεκτικὴ γάρ ἐστι πρότασις πρὸς ἣν οὕτως ἐπὶ πολλῶν ἔχουσαν μὴ ἔστιν ἔνστασις.
389Topic. VIII. ix. p. 1577, b. 8-33. διαλεκτικὴ γάρ ἐστι πρότασις πρὸς ἣν οὕτως ἐπὶ πολλῶν ἔχουσαν μὴ ἔστιν ἔνστασις.
390Ibid. p. 158, a. 3-6.
390Ibid. p. 158, a. 3-6.
You must however keep in mind what a dialectic universal premiss really is. Not every question requiring an universal answer is allowed to be put. You must not ask for positive information, nor put such questions as the following: What is man? In how many different senses is good employed? A dialectic question is one to which the respondent makes sufficient reply by saying, Yes or No.391You must ask in this form: Is the definition of man so and so? Is good enunciated in this or that different sense? To these questions the respondent may answer Yes or No. But if he persists in negative answers to your multiplied questions as to this or that sense of the term good, you may perhaps stand excused for asking him: “In how many different senses, then, do you yourself use the term good?�392
391Ibid. p. 158, a. 14, seq. ἔστι γὰρ πρότασις διαλεκτικὴ πρὸς ἣν ἔστιν ἀποκρίνασθαι ναὶ ἢ οὔ.
391Ibid. p. 158, a. 14, seq. ἔστι γὰρ πρότασις διαλεκτικὴ πρὸς ἣν ἔστιν ἀποκρίνασθαι ναὶ ἢ οὔ.
392Ibid. a. 21-24.
392Ibid. a. 21-24.
When you have obtained concessions which furnish premisses for a formal syllogism, you will draw out and propound that syllogism and its conclusion forthwith, without asking any farther question from the respondent or any leave from him to do so. He may indeed deny your right to do this, in spite of the concessions which he has made; and the auditors around, not fully appreciating all his concessions, may perhaps think that he is entitled to deny it. But, if you ask his leave to draw out the syllogism and he refuses to give leave, the auditors are much more likely to think that your syllogism is not allowable.393Ifyou have the choice between an ostensive syllogism and aReductio ad Absurdum, you ought always to prefer the former, as plainer and more incontestable.394
393Ibid. a. 7-12: οὐ δεῖ δὲ τὸ συμπέρασμα ἐρώτημα ποιεῖν· εἰ δὲ μή, ἀνανεύσαντος οὐ δοκεῖ γεγονέναι συλλογισμός.
393Ibid. a. 7-12: οὐ δεῖ δὲ τὸ συμπέρασμα ἐρώτημα ποιεῖν· εἰ δὲ μή, ἀνανεύσαντος οὐ δοκεῖ γεγονέναι συλλογισμός.
394Topic. VIII. ii. p. 158, b. 34-p. 158, a. 2.
394Topic. VIII. ii. p. 158, b. 34-p. 158, a. 2.
You must not persevere long in the same line of questions. For, if the respondent answers them all, it will soon appear that you are in the wrong course, since your syllogism, if you can get one at all, will always be obtained from a small number of premisses; and, if the respondent will not answer them, you have no alternative except to protest and desist.395
395Ibid. p. 158, a. 25-30.
395Ibid. p. 158, a. 25-30.
The theses that are most difficult to attack are also most easy to defend; and these are the highest universals, and the lowest particulars. The highest you cannot deal with, unless you can get a definition of them; which is sometimes impossible and always difficult; since the respondent will neither define them himself nor accept your definitions. Those which are next to the highest are also difficult to impugn, because there are few intermediate steps of proof. Again, the lowest particulars are also difficult for the contrary reason, that there are so many intermediate steps, and it is tedious to enumerate them all continuously; while, if any are omitted, the demonstration is incomplete, and the procedure will appear sophistical.396The most difficult of all to impugn are definitions framed in vague and unintelligible terms, where you do not know whether they are univocal or equivocal, literal or metaphorical. When the thesis tendered to you presents such difficulty, you may presume that it is affected with the obscurity of terms here indicated; or, at any rate, that its terms stand in need of definition.397In geometrical construction, as well as in dialectical debate, it is indispensable that theprincipiaor primary terms should be defined, and defined properly; without this, neither the one nor the other can be pursued.398
396Ibid. iii. p. 158, a. 31, seq. ἢ σοφισματώδη φαίνεται τὰ ἐπιχειρήματα.
396Ibid. iii. p. 158, a. 31, seq. ἢ σοφισματώδη φαίνεται τὰ ἐπιχειρήματα.
397Ibid. iii. p. 158, b. 8-23; p. 159, a. 3: οὔκουν δεῖ λανθάνειν, ὅταν δυσεπιχείρητος ᾖ ἡ θέσις, ὅτι πέπονθέ τι τῶν εἰρημένων.
397Ibid. iii. p. 158, b. 8-23; p. 159, a. 3: οὔκουν δεῖ λανθάνειν, ὅταν δυσεπιχείρητος ᾖ ἡ θέσις, ὅτι πέπονθέ τι τῶν εἰρημένων.
398Ibid. p. 158, b. 24-p. 159, a. 2.
398Ibid. p. 158, b. 24-p. 159, a. 2.
Sometimes the major and minor premisses of your syllogistic conclusion are more difficult to establish — more beyond the level of average intelligence — than the thesis itself. In such a case some may think that the respondent ought to grant these premisses, because, if he refuses and requires them to be proved, he will be imposing upon the questioner a duty more arduous than the thesis itself imposes; others may say that he ought not to grant them, because, if he did, he would be acknowledging a conclusion derived from premisses requiring proof as much ormore than itself.399A distinction must here be made. If you are putting questions with a view to teach, the learner ought not to grant such premisses as those above described, because he is entitled to require that in every step of the process he shall be inducted from what is more knowable to what is less knowable. Accordingly, when you attempt to demonstrate to him something which he knows little, by requiring him to concede something which he knows still less, he cannot be advised to grant what you ask. But, if you are debating with a companion for the purpose of dialectical exercise, he ought to grant what you ask whenever the affirmative really appears to him true.400
399Topic. VIII. iii. p. 159, a. 4-11. ὅταν δ’ ᾖ πρὸς τὸ ἀξίωμα καὶ τὴν πρότασιν μεῖζον ἔργον διαλεγῆναι ἢ τὴν θέσιν, διαπορήσειεν ἄν τις πότερον θετέον τὰ τοιαῦτα ἢ οὔ· &c.
399Topic. VIII. iii. p. 159, a. 4-11. ὅταν δ’ ᾖ πρὸς τὸ ἀξίωμα καὶ τὴν πρότασιν μεῖζον ἔργον διαλεγῆναι ἢ τὴν θέσιν, διαπορήσειεν ἄν τις πότερον θετέον τὰ τοιαῦτα ἢ οὔ· &c.
400Ibid. a. 11-14: ἢ τῷ μὲν μανθάνοντι οὐ θετέον, ἂν μὴ γνωριμώτερον ᾖ, τῷ δὲ γυμναζομένῳ θετέον, ἂν ἀληθὲς μόνον φαίνηται. ὥστε φανερὸν ὅτι οὐχ ὁμοίως ἐρωτῶντί τε κὶ διδάσκοντι ἀξιωτέον τιθέναι.This section is obscure and difficult. I am not sure that I understand it. It seems doubtful whether the verb τιθέναι is intended to apply to the questioner or to the respondent.
400Ibid. a. 11-14: ἢ τῷ μὲν μανθάνοντι οὐ θετέον, ἂν μὴ γνωριμώτερον ᾖ, τῷ δὲ γυμναζομένῳ θετέον, ἂν ἀληθὲς μόνον φαίνηται. ὥστε φανερὸν ὅτι οὐχ ὁμοίως ἐρωτῶντί τε κὶ διδάσκοντι ἀξιωτέον τιθέναι.
This section is obscure and difficult. I am not sure that I understand it. It seems doubtful whether the verb τιθέναι is intended to apply to the questioner or to the respondent.
We have now said enough for the purpose of instructing the questioner how to frame and marshal his interrogations. We must turn to the respondent, and point out howhemust answer in order to do well and perform his duty to the common work of dialogue. Speaking generally, the task of the questioner is to conduct the dialogue so as to make the respondent enunciate the most improbable and absurd replies which follow necessarily from the thesis that he has undertaken to defend; while the task of the respondent is to make it appear that these absurdities follow from the thesis itself, and not from his manner of defending it. The respondent may err in one of two ways, or indeed in both together: either he may set up an indefensible thesis; or he may fail to defend it in the best manner that it really admits; or he may do both. The second is a worse error than the first, in reference to the general purpose of Dialectic.401
401Ibid. iv. p. 159, a. 15-24: τοῦ δ’ ἀποκρινομένου τὸ μὴ δι’ αὐτὸν φαίνεσθαι συμβαίνειν τὸ ἀδύνατον ἢ τὸ παράδοξον, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὴν θέσιν· ἑτέρα γὰρ ἴσως ἁμαρτία τὸ θέσθαι πρῶτον ὃ μὴ δεῖ καὶ τὸ θέμενον μὴ φυλάξαι κατὰ τρόπον.
401Ibid. iv. p. 159, a. 15-24: τοῦ δ’ ἀποκρινομένου τὸ μὴ δι’ αὐτὸν φαίνεσθαι συμβαίνειν τὸ ἀδύνατον ἢ τὸ παράδοξον, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὴν θέσιν· ἑτέρα γὰρ ἴσως ἁμαρτία τὸ θέσθαι πρῶτον ὃ μὴ δεῖ καὶ τὸ θέμενον μὴ φυλάξαι κατὰ τρόπον.
Aristotle distinguishes (as has been already stated) three purposes in the dialogue:— (1) Teaching and Learning; (2) Contention, where both questioner and respondent strive only for victory; (3) Investigating and Testing the consequences of some given doctrine.402The first two of these three are dismissed rapidly. In the first, the teaching questioner has no intention of deceiving, and the pupil respondent has only to answer by granting all that appears to him true.403In the second, Aristotle tells us only that the questioner must always appear as if hewere making some point of his own; while the respondent, on his side, must always appear as if no point were made against him.404But in regard to the third head — dialogues of Search, Testing, Exercise — he is more copious in suggestions: he considers these as the proper field of Dialectic, and, as we saw, claims to have been the first who treated them apart from the didactic dialogues on one side, and the contentious on the other.405
402Ibid. v. p. 159, a. 24-28.
402Ibid. v. p. 159, a. 24-28.
403Ibid. a. 29: τῷ μὲν γὰρ μανθάνοντι θετέον ἀεὶ τὰ δοκοῦντα· καὶ γὰρ οὔδ’ ἐπιχειρεῖ ψεῦδος οὐδεὶς διδάσκειν.
403Ibid. a. 29: τῷ μὲν γὰρ μανθάνοντι θετέον ἀεὶ τὰ δοκοῦντα· καὶ γὰρ οὔδ’ ἐπιχειρεῖ ψεῦδος οὐδεὶς διδάσκειν.
404Topic. VIII. iv. p. 159, a. 30: τῶν δ’ ἀγνωνιζομένων τὸν μὲν ἐρωτῶντα φαίνεσθαί τι δεῖ ποιεῖν πάντως, τὸν δ’ ἀποκρινόμενον μηδὲν φαίνεσθαι πάσχειν.
404Topic. VIII. iv. p. 159, a. 30: τῶν δ’ ἀγνωνιζομένων τὸν μὲν ἐρωτῶντα φαίνεσθαί τι δεῖ ποιεῖν πάντως, τὸν δ’ ἀποκρινόμενον μηδὲν φαίνεσθαι πάσχειν.
405Ibid. a. 32-37; xi. p. 161, a. 23-25: δυσκολαίνοντες οὖν ἀγνωνιστικὰς καὶ οὐ διαλεκτικὰς ποιοῦνται τὰς διατριβάς· ἔτι δ’ ἐπεὶ γυμνασίας καὶ πείρας χάριν ἀλλ’ οὐ διδασκαλίας οἱ τοιοῦτοι τῶν λόγων, &c.
405Ibid. a. 32-37; xi. p. 161, a. 23-25: δυσκολαίνοντες οὖν ἀγνωνιστικὰς καὶ οὐ διαλεκτικὰς ποιοῦνται τὰς διατριβάς· ἔτι δ’ ἐπεὶ γυμνασίας καὶ πείρας χάριν ἀλλ’ οὐ διδασκαλίας οἱ τοιοῦτοι τῶν λόγων, &c.
The thesis which the respondent undertakes to defend (in a dialogue of Search or Testing) must be either probable, or improbable, or neither one nor the other. The probability or improbability may be either simple and absolute, or special and relative — in the estimation of the respondent himself or of some one or more persons. Now, if the thesis be improbable, the opposite thereof, which you the questioner try to prove, must be probable; if the thesis be probable, the opposite thereof must be improbable; if the thesis be neither, its opposite will also be neither. Suppose, first, that the thesis is improbable absolutely. In that case, its opposite, which you the questioner must fish for premisses to prove, will be probable; the respondent therefore ought not to grant you any demand which is either simply improbable or less probable than the conclusion which you aim at proving; for no such concessions can really serve your purpose, since you are bound to prove your conclusion from premisses more probable than itself.406Suppose, next, that the thesis is probable absolutely. In that case, the opposite conclusion, which you have to make out, will be improbable absolutely. Accordingly, whenever you ask concessions that are probable, the respondent ought to grant them; whenever you ask for concessions that are less improbable than your intended conclusion, he ought to grant these also; but, if you ask for any thing more improbable than your intended conclusion, he ought to refuse it.407Suppose, thirdly, that the thesis is neither probable nor improbable. Here, too, the respondent ought to grant all concessions that appear to him probable, as well as all that he thinks more probable than the opposite conclusion which youare seeking to arrive at; but no others. This is sufficient for the purpose of Dialectic, and for keeping open the lines of probable argument.408
406Ibid. v. p. 159, b. 9: φανερὸν ὡς ἀδόξου μὲν ὄντος ἁπλῶς τοῦ κειμένου οὐ δοτέον τῷ ἀποκρινομένῳ οὔθ’ ὃ μὴ δοκεῖ ἁπλῶς, οὔθ’ ὃ δοκεῖ μέν ἧττον δὲ τοῦ συμπεράσματος δοκεῖ. ἀδόξου γὰρ οὔσης τῆς θέσεως ἔνδοξον τὸ συμπέρασμα, ὥστε δεῖ τὰ λαμβανόμενα ἐνδοξα πάντ’ εἶναι καὶ μᾶλλον ἔνδοξα τοῦ προκειμένου, εἰ μέλλει διὰ τῶν γνωριμωτέρων τὸ ἧττον γνώριμον περαίνεσθαι. ὥστ’ εἴ τι μὴ τοιοῦτόν ἐστι τῶν ἐρωτωμένων, οὐ θετέον τῷ ἀποκρινομένῳ.
406Ibid. v. p. 159, b. 9: φανερὸν ὡς ἀδόξου μὲν ὄντος ἁπλῶς τοῦ κειμένου οὐ δοτέον τῷ ἀποκρινομένῳ οὔθ’ ὃ μὴ δοκεῖ ἁπλῶς, οὔθ’ ὃ δοκεῖ μέν ἧττον δὲ τοῦ συμπεράσματος δοκεῖ. ἀδόξου γὰρ οὔσης τῆς θέσεως ἔνδοξον τὸ συμπέρασμα, ὥστε δεῖ τὰ λαμβανόμενα ἐνδοξα πάντ’ εἶναι καὶ μᾶλλον ἔνδοξα τοῦ προκειμένου, εἰ μέλλει διὰ τῶν γνωριμωτέρων τὸ ἧττον γνώριμον περαίνεσθαι. ὥστ’ εἴ τι μὴ τοιοῦτόν ἐστι τῶν ἐρωτωμένων, οὐ θετέον τῷ ἀποκρινομένῳ.
407Ibid. b. 16.
407Ibid. b. 16.
408Topic. VIII. v. p. 159, b. 19-23: ἱκανῶς γὰρ ἂν δόξειε διειλέχθαι — οὕτω γὰρ ἐνδοξοτέρους συμβήσεται τοὺς λόγους γίνεσθαι.
408Topic. VIII. v. p. 159, b. 19-23: ἱκανῶς γὰρ ἂν δόξειε διειλέχθαι — οὕτω γὰρ ἐνδοξοτέρους συμβήσεται τοὺς λόγους γίνεσθαι.
When the probability or improbability of the thesis is considered simply and absolutely, the respondent ought to measure his concessions by the standard of opinion received usually.409When the probability or improbability of the thesis is considered as referable to the respondent himself, he has only to consult his own judgment and estimation in granting or refusing what is asked. When he undertakes to defend a thesis avowedly as the doctrine of some known philosopher, such as Herakleitus, he must, in giving his answers, measure probability and improbability according to what Herakleitus would determine.410
409Ibid. b. 24: πρὸς τὰ δοκοῦντα ἁπλῶς τὴνσύγκρισινποιητέον.
409Ibid. b. 24: πρὸς τὰ δοκοῦντα ἁπλῶς τὴνσύγκρισινποιητέον.
410Ibid. b. 25-35. πρὸς τὴν ἐκείνου διάνοιαν ἀποβλέποντα θετέον ἕκαστα καὶ ἀρνητέον.
410Ibid. b. 25-35. πρὸς τὴν ἐκείνου διάνοιαν ἀποβλέποντα θετέον ἕκαστα καὶ ἀρνητέον.
Since all the questions that you ask must be either probable, improbable, or neuter, and either relevant411or not relevant to your purpose of refuting the thesis, let us first suppose that you ask for a concession which is in itself probable, but not relevant. The respondent ought to grant it, adding that he thinks it probable. If what you ask is neither probable nor relevant, he ought even then to grant it; but annexing a notification that he is aware of its improbability, in order to save his own credit for intelligence.412If it be both probable and relevant, he ought to say that he is aware of its probability, but that it is too closely connected with the thesis, and that, if he grants it, the thesis will stand refuted. If it be relevant, yet at the same time very improbable, he must reply that, if he grants it, the thesis will be refuted, but that it is too silly to be propounded. If, being neutral, it is also not relevant, he ought to grant it without comment; but if, being neutral, it is relevant, he ought to notify that he is aware that by granting it his thesis will be refuted.413
411Ibid. vi. p. 159, b. 39: ἢ πρὸς τὸν λόγον, ἢ μὴ πρὸς τὸν λόγον. By this phrase Aristotle seems to mean, not simply relevant, but closely, directly, conspicuously relevant — equivalent to λίαν συνεγγὺς τοῦ ἐν ἀρχῇ (p. 160, a. 5).
411Ibid. vi. p. 159, b. 39: ἢ πρὸς τὸν λόγον, ἢ μὴ πρὸς τὸν λόγον. By this phrase Aristotle seems to mean, not simply relevant, but closely, directly, conspicuously relevant — equivalent to λίαν συνεγγὺς τοῦ ἐν ἀρχῇ (p. 160, a. 5).
412Ibid. b. 36-p. 160, a. 2. ἐὰν δὲ μὴ δοκοῦν καὶ μὴ πρὸς τὸν λόγον, δοτέον μέν, ἐπισημαντέον δὲ τὸ μὴ δοκοῦν πρὸς εὐλάβειαν εὐηθείας.How is this to be reconciled with what Aristotle says in the preceding chapter, p. 159, b. 11-18, that the respondent ought not to grant such improbabilities at all?
412Ibid. b. 36-p. 160, a. 2. ἐὰν δὲ μὴ δοκοῦν καὶ μὴ πρὸς τὸν λόγον, δοτέον μέν, ἐπισημαντέον δὲ τὸ μὴ δοκοῦν πρὸς εὐλάβειαν εὐηθείας.
How is this to be reconciled with what Aristotle says in the preceding chapter, p. 159, b. 11-18, that the respondent ought not to grant such improbabilities at all?
413Ibid. p. 160, a. 6-11.
413Ibid. p. 160, a. 6-11.
In this way of proceeding, the march of the dialogue on both sides will be creditable. The respondent, signifying plainly that he understands the full consequences of his own concessions, will not appear to be worsted through any short-comings of hisown, but only through what is inherent in his thesis; while you the questioner, having asked for such premisses as are really more probable than the conclusion to be established, and having had them granted, will have made out your point. It must be understood that you ought not to try to prove your conclusion from premisses less probable than itself; and that, if you put questions of this sort, you transgress the rules of dialectical procedure.414
414Topic. VIII. vi. p. 160, a. 11-16. οὕτω γὰρ ὅ τ’ ἀποκρινόμενος οὐδὲν δόξει δι’ αὑτὸν πάσχειν, ἐὰν προορῶν ἕκαστα τιθῇ, ὅ τ’ ἐρωτῶν τεύξεται συλλογισμοῦ τιθεμένων αὐτῷ πάντων ἐνδοξοτέρων τοῦ συμπεράσματος. ὅσοι δ’ ἐξ ἀδοξοτέρων τοῦ συμπεράσματος ἐπιχειροῦσι συλλογίζεσθαι, δῆλον ὡς οὐ καλῶς συλλογίζονται· διὸ τοῖς ἐρωτῶσιν οὐ θετέον.
414Topic. VIII. vi. p. 160, a. 11-16. οὕτω γὰρ ὅ τ’ ἀποκρινόμενος οὐδὲν δόξει δι’ αὑτὸν πάσχειν, ἐὰν προορῶν ἕκαστα τιθῇ, ὅ τ’ ἐρωτῶν τεύξεται συλλογισμοῦ τιθεμένων αὐτῷ πάντων ἐνδοξοτέρων τοῦ συμπεράσματος. ὅσοι δ’ ἐξ ἀδοξοτέρων τοῦ συμπεράσματος ἐπιχειροῦσι συλλογίζεσθαι, δῆλον ὡς οὐ καλῶς συλλογίζονται· διὸ τοῖς ἐρωτῶσιν οὐ θετέον.
If you ask a dialectical question in plain and univocal language, the respondent is bound to answer Yes or No. But if you ask it in terms obscure or equivocal, he is not obliged to answer thus directly. He is at liberty to tell you that he does not understand the question; he ought to have no scruple in telling you so, if such is really the fact. Suppose the terms of your question to be familiar, but equivocal; the answer to it may perhaps be either true or false, alike in all the different senses of the terms. In that case, the respondent ought to answer Yes or No directly. But, if the answer would be an affirmation in one sense of the terms and a negation in another, he must take care to signify that he is aware of the equivocation, and to distinguish at once the two-fold meaning; for, if the distinction is not noticed till afterwards, he cannot clearly show that he was aware of it from the first. If he really was not at first aware of the equivocation, and gave an affirmative answer looking only to one among the several distinct meanings, you will try to convict him of error by pushing him on the other meaning. The best thing that he can then do will be to confess his oversight, and to excuse himself by saying that misconception is easy where the same term or the same proposition may mean several different things.415
415Ibid. vii. p. 160, a. 17-34.
415Ibid. vii. p. 160, a. 17-34.
Suppose you put several particular questions (or several analogous questions) with the view of arriving ultimately by induction at the concession of an universal, comprising them all. If they are all both true and probable, the respondent must concede them all severally; yet he may still intend to answer No, when the universal is tendered to him after them. He has no right to answer thus, however, unless he can produce some contradictory particular instance, real or apparent, to justify him; and, if he does so without such justification, he is a perversedialectician.416Perhaps he may try to sustain his denegation of the universal, after having conceded many particulars, by a counter-attack founded on some chain of paradoxical reasoning such as that of Zeno against motion; there being many such paradoxes contradictory of probabilities, yet hard to refute. But this is no sufficient justification for refusing to admit the universal, when, after having admitted many particulars, he can produce no particular adverse to them. The case will be still worse, if he refuses to admit the universal, having neither any adverse instance, nor any counter-ratiocinative attack. It is then the extreme of perverse Dialectic.417
416Topic. VIII. viii. p. 160, b. 2-5: τὸ γὰρ ἄνευ ἐνστάσεως, ἢ οὔσης ἢ δοκούσης, κωλύειν τὸν λόγον δυσκολαίνειν ἐστίν. εἰ οὖν ἐπὶ πολλῶν φαινομένου μὴ δίδωσι τὸ καθόλου μὴ ἔχων ἔνστασιν, φανερὸν ὅτι δυσκολαίνει.
416Topic. VIII. viii. p. 160, b. 2-5: τὸ γὰρ ἄνευ ἐνστάσεως, ἢ οὔσης ἢ δοκούσης, κωλύειν τὸν λόγον δυσκολαίνειν ἐστίν. εἰ οὖν ἐπὶ πολλῶν φαινομένου μὴ δίδωσι τὸ καθόλου μὴ ἔχων ἔνστασιν, φανερὸν ὅτι δυσκολαίνει.
417Ibid. b. 5, seq. ἔτι εἰ μηδ’ ἀντεπιχειρεῖν ἔχει ὅτι οὐκ ἀληθές, πολλῷ μᾶλλον ἂν δόξειε δυσκολαίνειν. καίτοι οὐδὲ τοῦθ’ ἱκανόν· πολλοὺς γὰρ λόγους ἔχομεν ἐναντίους ταῖς δόξαις, οὓς χαλεπὸν λύειν, καθάπερ τὸν Ζήνωνος ὅτι οὐκ ἐνδέχεται κινεῖσθαι οὐδὲ τὸ στάδιον διελθεῖν·ἀλλ’ οὐ διὰ τοῦτο τἀντικείμενα τούτοις οὐ θετέον.
417Ibid. b. 5, seq. ἔτι εἰ μηδ’ ἀντεπιχειρεῖν ἔχει ὅτι οὐκ ἀληθές, πολλῷ μᾶλλον ἂν δόξειε δυσκολαίνειν. καίτοι οὐδὲ τοῦθ’ ἱκανόν· πολλοὺς γὰρ λόγους ἔχομεν ἐναντίους ταῖς δόξαις, οὓς χαλεπὸν λύειν, καθάπερ τὸν Ζήνωνος ὅτι οὐκ ἐνδέχεται κινεῖσθαι οὐδὲ τὸ στάδιον διελθεῖν·ἀλλ’ οὐ διὰ τοῦτο τἀντικείμενα τούτοις οὐ θετέον.
Before the respondent undertakes to defend any thesis or definition, he ought to have previously studied the various modes attacking it, and to have prepared himself for meeting them.418He must also be cautious of taking up improbable theses, in either of the senses of improbable. For a thesis is so called when it involves strange and paradoxical developments, as if a man lays down either that every thing is in motion or that nothing is in motion; and also, when it implies a discreditable character and is contrary to that which men wish to be thought to hold, as, for example, the doctrine that pleasure is the good, or that it is better to do wrong than to suffer wrong. If a man defends such theses as these, people hate him because they presume that he is not merely propounding them as matter for dialectical argument, but advocating them as convictions of his own.419
418Ibid. ix. p. 160, b. 14.
418Ibid. ix. p. 160, b. 14.
419Ibid. b. 17-22: ἄδοξον δ’ ὑπόθεσιν εὐλαβητέον ὑπέχειν· εἴη δ’ ἂν ἄδοξος διχῶς· &c.
419Ibid. b. 17-22: ἄδοξον δ’ ὑπόθεσιν εὐλαβητέον ὑπέχειν· εἴη δ’ ἂν ἄδοξος διχῶς· &c.
The respondent must farther be able, if you bring against him a false syllogistic reasoning, to distinguish upon which among your premisses the false conclusion really turns, and to refute that one. Your reasoning may have more than one false premiss; but he must not content himself with refuting any one or any other: he must single out that one which is the chief determining cause of the falsehood. Thus, if your syllogism be:— Every man in a sitting position is writing, Sokrates is a man in a sitting position; therefore, Sokrates is writing, — it will not suffice that the respondent should refute your minor premiss,though this may be false;420because such a refutation will not apply to the number of other cases in which men are sitting but not writing; and therefore it will not expose the full bearing of the falsehood. Your major premiss is that upon which the full bearing of the falsehood depends; and the respondent must show that he is aware of this by refuting your major.421
420Topic. VIII. x. p. 160, b. 23-26. οὐ γὰρ ὁ ὁτιοῦν ἀνελὼν λέλυκεν, οὔδ’ εἰ ψεῦδός ἐστι τὸ ἀναιρούμενον· ἔχοι γὰρ ἂν πλείω ψευδῆ ὁ λόγος.
420Topic. VIII. x. p. 160, b. 23-26. οὐ γὰρ ὁ ὁτιοῦν ἀνελὼν λέλυκεν, οὔδ’ εἰ ψεῦδός ἐστι τὸ ἀναιρούμενον· ἔχοι γὰρ ἂν πλείω ψευδῆ ὁ λόγος.