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not guilty, since no one deliberately and consciously chooses what is bad.
This argument is, however, fallacious, for it often becomes clear after the
event how the action could have been done better, though before the event
this was far from clear.
26. Another line is, when a contemplated action is inconsistent with any
past action, to examine them both together. Thus, when the people of Elea
asked Xenophanes if they should or should not sacrifice to Leucothea and
mourn for her, he advised them not to mourn for her if they thought her a
goddess, and not to sacrifice to her if they thought her a mortal woman.
27. Another line is to make previous mistakes the grounds of accusation or
defence. Thus, in the Medea of Carcinus the accusers allege that Medea has
slain her children; ‘at all events’, they say, ‘they are not to be seen’-Medea
having made the mistake of sending her children away. In defence she argues
that it is not her children, but Jason, whom she would have slain; for it would
have been a mistake on her part not to do this if she had done the other. This
special line of argument for enthymeme forms the whole of the Art of
Rhetoric in use before Theodorus.
Another line is to draw meanings from names. Sophocles, for
instance, says,
O steel in heart as thou art steel in name.
This line of argument is common in praises of the gods. Thus, too, Conon
called Thrasybulus rash in counsel. And Herodicus said of Thrasymachus,
‘You are always bold in battle’; of Polus, ‘you are always a colt’; and of the
legislator Draco that his laws were those not of a human being but of a
dragon, so savage were they. And, in Euripides, Hecuba says of Aphrodite,
Her name and Folly’s (aphrosuns) lightly begin alike,
and Chaeremon writes
Pentheus-a name foreshadowing grief (penthos) to come.
The Refutative Enthymeme has a greater reputation than the
Demonstrative, because within a small space it works out two opposing
arguments, and arguments put side by side are clearer to the audience. But of
all syllogisms, whether refutative or demonstrative, those are most applauded
of which we foresee the conclusions from the beginning, so long as they are
not obvious at first sight-for part of the pleasure we feel is at our own
2253
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book The Complete Aristotle"
The Complete Aristotle
- Title
- The Complete Aristotle
- Author
- Aristotle
- Date
- ~322 B.C.
- Language
- English
- License
- PD
- Size
- 21.0 x 29.7 cm
- Pages
- 2328
- Keywords
- Philosophy, Antique, Philosophie, Antike, Dialogues, Metaphysik, Metaphysics, Ideologie, Ideology, Englisch
- Categories
- Geisteswissenschaften
- International
Table of contents
- Part 1; Logic (Organon) 3
- Categories 4
- On Interpretation 34
- Prior Analytics, Book I 56
- Prior Analytics, Book II 113
- Posterior Analytics, Book I 149
- Posterior Analytics, Book II 193
- Topics, Book I 218
- Topics, Book II 221
- Topics, Book III 237
- Topics, Book IV 248
- Topics, Book V 266
- Topics, Book VI 291
- Topics, Book VII 317
- Topics, Book VIII 326
- On Sophistical Refutations 348
- Part 2; Universal Physics 396
- Physics, Book I 397
- Physics, Book II 415
- Physics, Book III 432
- Physics, Book IV 449
- Physics, Book V 481
- Physics, Book VI 496
- Physics, Book VII 519
- Physics, Book VIII 533
- On the Heavens, Book I 570
- On the Heavens, Book II 599
- On the Heavens, Book III 624
- On the Heavens, Book IV 640
- On Generation and Corruption, Book I 651
- On Generation and Corruption, Book II 685
- Meteorology, Book I 707
- Meteorology, Book II 733
- Meteorology, Book III 760
- Meteorology, Book IV 773
- Part 3; Human Physics 795
- On the Soul, Book I 796
- On the Soul, Book II 815
- On the Soul, Book III 840
- On Sense and the Sensible 861
- On Memory and Reminiscence 889
- On Sleep and Sleeplessness 899
- On Dreams 909
- On Prophesying by Dreams 918
- On Longevity and the Shortness of Life 923
- On Youth, Old Age, Life and Death, and Respiration 929
- Part 4; Animal Physics 952
- The History of Animals, Book I 953
- The History of Animals, Book II translated 977
- The History of Animals, Book III 1000
- The History of Animals, Book IV 1029
- The History of Animals, Book V 1056
- The History of Animals, Book VI 1094
- The History of Animals, Book VII 1135
- The History of Animals, Book VIII 1150
- The History of Animals, Book IX 1186
- On the Parts of Animals, Book I 1234
- On the Parts of Animals, Book II 1249
- On the Parts of Animals, Book III 1281
- On the Parts of Animals, Book IV 1311
- On the Motion of Animals 1351
- On the Gait of Animals 1363
- On the Generation of Animals, Book I 1381
- On the Generation of Animals, Book II 1412
- On the Generation of Animals, Book III 1444
- On the Generation of Animals, Book IV 1469
- On the Generation of Animals, Book V 1496
- Part 5; Metaphysics 1516
- Part 6; Ethics and Politics 1748
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book I 1749
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book II 1766
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book III 1779
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book IV 1799
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book V 1817
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book VI 1836
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book VII 1851
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book VIII 1872
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book IX 1890
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book X 1907
- Politics, Book I 1925
- Politics, Book II 1943
- Politics, Book III 1970
- Politics, Book IV 1997
- Politics, Book V 2023
- Politics, Book VI 2053
- Politics, Book VII 2065
- Politics, Book VIII 2091
- The Athenian Constitution 2102
- Part 7; Aesthetic Writings 2156