''Sophistical Refutations'' (; ) is a text in
Aristotle
Aristotle (; 384–322 BC) was an Ancient Greek philosophy, Ancient Greek philosopher and polymath. His writings cover a broad range of subjects spanning the natural sciences, philosophy, linguistics, economics, politics, psychology, a ...
's ''
Organon
The ''Organon'' (, meaning "instrument, tool, organ") is the standard collection of Aristotle's six works on logical analysis and dialectic. The name ''Organon'' was given by Aristotle's followers, the Peripatetics, who maintained against the ...
'' in which he identified thirteen
fallacies
A fallacy is the use of invalid or otherwise faulty reasoning in the construction of an argument that may appear to be well-reasoned if unnoticed. The term was introduced in the Western intellectual tradition by the Aristotelian '' De Sophis ...
.
[Sometimes listed as twelve.] According to Aristotle, this is the first work to treat the subject of
deductive reasoning
Deductive reasoning is the process of drawing valid inferences. An inference is valid if its conclusion follows logically from its premises, meaning that it is impossible for the premises to be true and the conclusion to be false. For example, t ...
in ancient Greece (''Soph. Ref.'', 34, 183b34 ff.).
Overview
''On Sophistical Refutations''
consists of 34 chapters. The book naturally falls in two parts: chapters concerned with tactics for the Questioner (3–8 and 12–15) and chapters concerned with tactics for the Answerer (16–32). Besides, there is an introduction (1–2), an interlude (9–11), and a conclusion (33–34).
Fallacies identified
The fallacies Aristotle identifies in Chapter 4 (formal fallacies) and 5 (informal fallacies) of this book are the following:
:Fallacies in the language or formal fallacies (''in dictionem''):
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Equivocation
In logic, equivocation ("calling two different things by the same name") is an informal fallacy resulting from the use of a particular word or expression in multiple senses within an argument.
It is a type of ambiguity that stems from a phrase ...
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Amphiboly
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Composition
Composition or Compositions may refer to:
Arts and literature
*Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography
* Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include ...
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Division
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Accent
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Figure of speech
A figure of speech or rhetorical figure is a word or phrase that intentionally deviates from straightforward language use or Denotation, literal meaning to produce a rhetorical or intensified effect (emotionally, aesthetically, intellectually, et ...
or form of expression
:
:Fallacies not in the language or informal fallacies (''extra dictionem''):
Footnotes
References
Further reading
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External links
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* HTML Greek text vi
Greco interattivo*
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Works by Aristotle
Logic literature