The Dialectical Syllogism in Aristotle’s Topics

Authors

  • Fernando Martins Mendonça Universidade Federal de Uberlândia – Uberlândia – MG –Brasil

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14195/1984-249X_33_30

Keywords:

Aristotle’s dialectic, Dialectical syllogism, Endoxa

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is an attempt to delimitate what the dialectical syllogism looks like in Aristotle’s Topics. Aristotle never gave an example of a dialectical syllogism, but we have some clues spread over books I and VIII of the Topics which make it possible to understand at least what within a dialectical debate is a dialectical syllogism. The interpretation advanced here distinguishes the logical order of the dialectical argumentation from the order of the debate. This distinction enables us to have a better understand of what is and how the dialectical syllogism is identified in the debate. In addition, we can solve some interpretative difficulties other interpretations could not solve, and have a more solid grasp of how endoxa are used in a dialectical debate.

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References

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Published

2023-11-20

How to Cite

Martins Mendonça, F. (2023). The Dialectical Syllogism in Aristotle’s Topics. Revista Archai, (33), e03330. https://doi.org/10.14195/1984-249X_33_30