sophistical refutations

Question 1

what is the art of the sophist (aristotle)

Answer 1

the art of the sophist is the semblance of wisdom without the reality, and the sophist is one who makes money from an apparent but unreal wisdom

Question 2

Of arguments used in discussion there are four classes:

Answer 2

1. Didactic; deduce from the principles appropriate to each subject and not from the opinions held by the answerer (for the learner must be convinced)
2. Dialectical; deduce from reputable premises, to the contradictory of a given thesis
3. Examinational; deduce from premises which are accepted by the answerer and which anyone who claims to possess knowledge of the subject is bound to know
4. Contentious; deduce or appear to deduce to a conclusion from premisses that appear to be reputable but are not so

Question 3

There are 5 aims entertained by those who argue as competitors and rivals.

Answer 3

refutation, falsity, paradox, solecism, and fifthly to reduce the opponent in the discussion to babbling (i.e. to constrain him to repeat himself a number of times); or it is to produce the appearance of each of these things without the reality.

Question 4

Two styles of refutation:

Answer 4

• refutations based on the language used: accent, combination, division, form of expression, homonymy, ambiguity
• fallacies that are independent of language: one that which depends upon accident; the use of an expression without qualification or not without qualification but with some qualification of respect, or place, or time, or relation; ignorance of what refutation is; depending upon the consequent; depending upon assuming the point at issue; stating as cause what is not the cause; the making of more than one question into one