Abstract
In the medieval sense of the word, a sophism is a problematic sentence that is discussed in a technical manner, usually including a solution showing how the apparent problems arise. Sophisms were used from the twelfth century onward as exercises for student in their first years of university studies, but at least in the fourteenth century sophisms were also used for purposes more accurately described as research. The problems with single sentences were for the most part logical or linguistic, but also many issues of natural philosophy were addressed as sophisms. Collections of sophisms may have circulated as exercise books but in the mature form of the genre established authors wrote their own collections, since the solutions provided an efficient context for presenting philosophical doctrine.
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Yrjönsuuri, M. (2011). Sophisms. In: Lagerlund, H. (eds) Encyclopedia of Medieval Philosophy. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-9729-4_469
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