Abstract
This article aims at elucidating the logic of Arist. SE 22, 178b36–179a10 and, in particular, of the sophism labelled "Third Man" discussed in it. I suggest that neither the sophistic Walking Man argument, proposed by ancient commentators, nor the Aristotelian Third Man of the Περίιδεων, suggested by modern interpreters, can be identified with the fallacious argument Aristotle presents and solves in the passage. I propose an alternative reconstruction of the Third Man sophism and argue that an explanation of the lines regarding the identity of Coriscus and Coriscus the musician (178b39–179a3) is indispensable for its correct understanding, since they hint at another sophism in some important aspects analogous. Finally, I show that two contradictions concerning εκΘεσις spotted by scholars in the passage are only apparent and can be dissolved once the assumption that the anti-Platonic Third Man argument is at stake here is discarded, and once the passage is read in the light of its agonistic context.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ackrill, J. L.: 1963, Aristotle's Categories and De Interpretatione, Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Allen, R. E.: 1969, 'Individual Properties in Aristotle's Categories', Phronesis 14, 31–39.
Barnes, J.: 1968, Aristotle's Theory of the Syllogism, Dordrecht: Reidel (English version of Patzig, G.: 19632, Die Aristotelische Syllogistik, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht).
Bekker, I.: 1831, Aristotelis Opera, vols. 1–2, Berlin: Reimer.
Benson, H.: 1988, 'Universals as Sortals in the Categories', Pacific Philosophical Quarterly 69, 282–306.
Berti, E.: 1979, 'Le problème de la substantialité de l'être et de l'un dans la Métaphysique', in P. Aubenque (ed.), Études sur la Métaphysique d'Aristote, Actes du VIe Symposium Aristotelicum, Paris: Vrin, pp. 89–129.
Bodéüs, R.: 2001, Aristote: [Catégories], Paris: Les Belles Lettres.
Bonitz, H.: 1870, Index Aristotelicus, in I. Bekker, Aristotelis Opera, vol. V, Berlin: Reimer.
Brunschwig, J.: 1967, Aristote: Topiques I–IV, Paris: Les Belles Lettres.
Burnyeat, M.: 2001, A Map of Metaphysics Zeta, Pittsburgh: Mathesis.
Cherniss, H.: 1944, Aristotle's Criticism of Plato and the Academy, Baltimore: Hopkins.
Colli, G.: 1955, Aristotele: Organon, Turin: Einaudi (repr. Milan: Adelphi, 2003).
Cresswell, M. J.: 1975, 'What is Aristotle's Theory of Universals?', American Philosophical Quarterly 53, 238–247.
Dancy, R. M.: 1975, Sense and Contradiction: A Study in Aristotle, Dordrecht: Reidel.
Devereux, D. T.: 1992, 'Inherence and Primary Substance in Aristotle's Categories', Ancient Philosophy 12, 113–131.
Devereux, D. T.: 1998, 'Aristotle's Categories 3b10–21: A Reply to Sharma', Ancient Philosophy 18, 341–352.
Di Lascio, E. V.: 2002, L”´Eκθεσις ?di Aristotele tra Metafisica e Logica, Unpublished dissertation, University of Bologna.
Dorion, L.-A.: 1995, Aristote: Les réfutations sophistiques, Paris: Vrin.
Ebbesen, S.: 1981, Commentators and Commentaries on Aristotle's Sophistici Elenchi: A Study of Post-Aristotelian Ancient and Medieval Writings on Fallacies, 3 vols., Leiden: Brill.
Fine, G.: 1984, 'Separation', Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy 2, 31–87.
Fine, G.: 1993, On Ideas: Aristotle's Criticism of Plato's Theory of Forms, Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Forster, E. S.: 1955, Aristotle: On Sophistical Refutations, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press and London: Heinemann.
Gianni, M.: 1985, Il libro H della Metafisica di Aristotele: Traduzione, note e commento analitico, Unpublished dissertation, University of Florence.
Jones, B.: 1972, 'Individuals in Aristotle's Categories', Phronesis 17, 107–123.
Kung, J.: 1981, 'Aristotle on Thises, Suches and the Third Man Argument', Phronesis 26, 207–247.
Leszl, W.: 1975, Il “De Ideis” di Aristotele e la teoria platonica delle Idee, Florence: Olschki.
Mansion, S.: 1968, 'Note sur la doctrine des catégories dans les Topiques', in G. E. L. Owen (ed.), Aristotle on Dialectic: The Topics, Proceedings of the Third Symposium Aristotelicum, Oxford: Clarendon Press, pp. 189–201.
Mariani, M.: 1994, 'Il “Terzo Uomo” nelle “Confutazioni Sofistiche”', in C. Cellucci, M. C. Di Maio and G. Roncaglia (eds.), Logica e filosofia della scienza: Problemi e prospettive, Atti del Convegno della SILFS (Lucca 7–10 gennaio 1993), Pisa: ETS, pp. 3–13.
Matthews, G. B.: 1982, 'Accidental Unities', in M. Schofield and M. C. Nussbaum (eds.), Language and Logos: Studies in Ancient Greek Philosophy Presented to G. E. L. Owen, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 223–240.
Mignucci, M.: 1991, 'Expository Proofs in Aristotle's Syllogistic', Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy s. v. 9, 9–28.
Minio-Paluello, L.: 1949, Aristotelis Categoriae et Liber De Interpretatione, Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Morrison, D.: 1985, 'Separation in Aristotle's Metaphysics', Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy 3, 125–157.
Owen, G. E. L.: 1968, 'Dialectic and Eristic in the Treatment of the Forms', in G. E. L Owen (ed.), Aristotle on Dialectic: The Topics, Proceedings of the Third Symposium Aristotelicum, Oxford: Clarendon Press, pp. 103–125.
Pickard-Cambridge, W. A.: 1984, 'Sophistical Refutations', in J. Barnes (ed.), The Complete Works of Aristotle: The Revised Oxford Translation, 2 vols., Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, vol. I, pp. 277–314.
Poste, E.: 1866, Aristotle on Fallacies or The Sophistici Elenchi, New York-London: Garland.
Ross, W. D.: 1924, Aristotle's Metaphysics, 2 vols., Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Ross, W. D.: 1949, Aristotle's Prior and Posterior Analytics, Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Ross, W. D.: 1958, Aristotelis Topica et Sophistici Elenchi, Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Scaltsas, T.: 1994, Substances and Universals in Aristotle's Metaphysics, Ithaca N.Y.: Cornell University Press.
Schiaparelli, A.: 2002, Galeno e le fallacie linguistiche: Il De captionibus in dictione, Venice: Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti.
Sharma, R. K.: 1997, 'A New Defence of Tropes? On Categories 3b10–18', Ancient Philosophy 17, 309–315.
Sharples, R. W.: 1999, 'On Being a τóδε ?in Aristotle and Alexander', Méthexis 12, 77–87.
Smith, J. A.: 1921, 'Tó δε in Aristotle', The Classical Review 35, 19.
Smith, R.: 1982, 'What is Aristotelian Ecthesis?', History and Philosophy of Logic 3, 113–127.
Tabarroni, A.: 1991, 'Figura dictionis e predicazione nel commento ai Sophistici Elenchi di Egidio Romano', Documenti e studi sulla tradizione filosofica medievale 2, 183–215.
Tabarroni, A.: 1994, 'Figure of Speech and Aristotle's Division of Fallacies', in C. Cellucci, M. C. Di Maio and G. Roncaglia (eds.), Logica e filosofia della scienza: Problemi e prospettive, Atti del Convegno della SILFS (Lucca 7–10 gennaio 1993), Pisa: ETS, pp. 15–24.
Taylor, A. E.: 1915–1916, 'Parmenides, Zeno and Socrates', Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society 16, 234–289.
Thom, P.: 1976, 'Ecthesis', Logique et Analyse 74, 299–310.
Waitz, T.: 1844–1846, Aristotelis Organon Graece, 2 vols., Leipzig: Hahn.
Wedin, M. V.: 2000, Aristotle's Theory of Substance: The Categories and Metaphysics Zeta, Oxford: Clarendon Press.
White, N. P.: 1971, 'A Note on' ´Eκθεσις', Phronesis 16, 164–168.
Wittgenstein, L.: 1958, The Blue and Brown Books, Oxford: Blackwell.
Wolff, M.: 1998, 'Prinzipien und expositorische Beweise in Aristoteles' Syllogistik', Philosophiegeschichte und logische Analyse 1, 131–170.
Zanatta, M.: 1995, Aristotele: Le Confutazioni Sofistiche, Milan: Rizzoli.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Di Lascio, E.V. Third Men: The Logic of the Sophisms at Arist. SE 22, 178b36–170a10. Topoi 23, 33–59 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:TOPO.0000021382.27269.a5
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/B:TOPO.0000021382.27269.a5