The Epicheirema is called Single or Double, says Hamilton, according as
an "adscititious proposition" attaches to one or both of the premises.
The above example is of the double kind. The Single Epicheirema is said
to be of the First Order, if the adscititious proposition attach to the
major premise; if to the minor, of the Second Order. (Hamilton's
_Logic_: Lecture xix.)
An Epicheirema, then, is an abbreviated chain of reasoning, or
Polysyllogism, comprising an Episyllogism with one or two enthymematic
Prosyllogisms. The major premise in the above case, _All men are mortal,
for they are animals,_ is an Enthymeme of the First Order, suppressing
its own major premise, and may be restored thus:
All animals are mortal;
All men are animals:
∴ All men are mortal.
The minor premise, _Socrates is a man, for rational bipeds are men_, is
an Enthymeme of the Second Order, suppressing its own minor premise, and
may be restored thus:
All rational bipeds are men;
Socrates is a rational biped:
∴ Socrates is a man.
§ 5. The Sorites is a Polysyllogism in which the Conclusions, and even
some of the Premises, are suppressed until the arguments end. If the
chain of arguments were freed of its enthymematic character, the
suppressed conclusions would appear as premises of Episyllogisms.
Two varieties of Sorites are recognised, the Aristotelian (so called,
though not treated of by Aristotle), and the Goclenian (named after its
discoverer, Goclenius of Marburg, who flourished about 1600 A.D.). In
order to compare these two forms of argument, it will be convenient to
place side by side Hamilton's classical examples of them.
Aristotelian. Goclenian.
Bucephalus is a horse; An animal is a substance;
A horse is a quadruped; A quadruped is an animal;
A quadruped is an animal; A horse is a quadruped;
An animal is a substance: Bucephalus is a horse:
∴ Bucephalus is a substance. ∴ Bucephalus is a substance.
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