| Figure Name | sorites |
| Source | Silva Rhetoricae (http://humanities.byu.edu/rhetoric/Silva.htm); Blount (1653) 7 |
| Earliest Source | None |
| Synonyms | |
| Etymology | None |
| Type | Chroma |
| Linguistic Domain |
Semantic |
| Definition |
1. Concatenated enthymemes. That is, a chain of claims and reasons which build upon one another. Sorites is sometimes seen as, and certainly can be, a logical fallacy, since the rapidity of claims and reasons does not allow the unstated assumptions behind each claim to be examined. 2. "[CLIMAX] turned to an argument." (Blount) |
| Example |
1. We cannot trust this man, for he has perjured himself in the past. Since the witness cannot be trusted, we must disregard his present testimony. Without his damning testimony, the accusations against my client are nothing. Since the accusations against my client amount to nothing, let him be dismissed. 2. "You could not enjoy your goods, without government, no Government without a Magistrate, no Magistrate without obedience, and no obedience, where every one upon his private passion doth interpret the Rulers action." (Blount) |
| Kind Of | Repetition Series |
| Part Of | |
| Related Figures | enthymeme, Figures of Reasoning |
| Notes | |
| Confidence | Unconfident |
| Last Editor | Mark Carter |
| Confidence | Unconfident |
| Editorial Notes | Dropped syntactic from Linguistic Domain, dropped identity from Type of. |
| Reviewed | No |