Sophistical Refutations

Sophistical Refutations (; ) is a text in Aristotle's Organon in which he identified twelve or thirteen fallacies. According to Aristotle, this is the first work to treat the subject of deductive reasoning in ancient Greece (Soph. Ref., 34, 183b34 ff.). In it, he attempts to develop a pattern of sound and genuine reasoning in opposition to the deceptive or misleading "art of sophistry".

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:

1. Equivocation
2. Amphiboly
3. Composition
4. Division
5. Accent
6. Figure of speech or form of expression

References

Further reading

External links

• HTML Greek text via Greco interattivo
• Translated by W. A. Pickard-Cambridge
• ChangingMinds.org: "Aristotle's 13 fallacies"