The Universe of Discourse

Sun, 15 Feb 2009

Stupid crap, presented by Plato
Yesterday I posted:

"She is not 'your' girlfriend," said this knucklehead. "She does not belong to you."

Through pure happenstance, I discovered last night that there is an account of this same bit of equivocation in Plato's Euthydemus. In this dialogue, Socrates tells of a sophist named Dionysodorus, who is so clever that he can refute any proposition, whether true or false. Here Dionysodorus demonstrates that Ctesippus's father is a dog:

You say that you have a dog.
Yes, a villain of a one, said Ctesippus.
And he has puppies?
Yes, and they are very like himself.
And the dog is the father of them?
Yes, he said, I certainly saw him and the mother of the puppies come together.
And is he not yours?
To be sure he is.
Then he is a father, and he is yours; ergo, he is your father, and the puppies are your brothers.

So my knuckleheaded interlocutor was not even being original.

I gratefully acknowledge the gift of Thomas Guest. Thank you very much!

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