Chapter 52 | Dickinson College Commentaries

52.1 ὁ πρῶτος καὶ ἀναγκαιότατος τόπος ἐστὶν ἐν φιλοσοφίᾳ ὁ τῆς χρήσεως τῶν δογμάτων, οἷον ὁ τοῦ μὴ ψεύδεσθαι· ὁ δεύτερος ὁ τῶν ἀποδείξεων, οἷον πόθεν ὅτι οὐ δεῖ ψεύδεσθαι· τρίτος ὁ αὐτῶν τούτων βεβαιωτικὸς καὶ διαρθρωτικός, οἷον πόθεν ὅτι τοῦτο ἀπόδειξις· τί γάρ ἐστιν ἀπόδειξις, τί ἀκολουθία, τί μάχη, τί ἀληθές, τί ψεῦδος; 52.2 οὐκοῦν ὁ μὲν τρίτος τόπος ἀναγκαῖος διὰ τὸν δεύτερον, ὁ δὲ δεύτερος διὰ τὸν πρῶτον· ὁ δὲ ἀναγκαιότατος καὶ ὅπου ἀναπαύεσθαι δεῖ, ὁ πρῶτος. ἡμεῖς δὲ ἔμπαλιν ποιοῦμεν· ἐν γὰρ τῷ τρίτῳ τόπῳ διατρίβομεν καὶ περὶ ἐκεῖνόν ἐστιν ἡμῖν ἡ πᾶσα σπουδή, τοῦ δὲ πρώτου παντελῶς ἀμελοῦμεν. τοιγαροῦν ψευδόμεθα μέν, πῶς δὲ ἀποδείκνυται ὅτι οὐ δεῖ ψεύδεσθαι, πρόχειρον ἔχομεν.

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vocabulary

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Application of Philosophical Principles

The application of philosophical principles (rather than proving them or explaining the logical principles behind the proofs) is the most important thing.

τόπος: “area,” “part,” “topic”

ὁ τῆς χρήσεως: “the (topic) of use,” an example of the so-called “appositive” genitive, defining the application of a substantive (S. 1322)

ὁ τοῦ μὴ ψεύδεσθαι: “the (topic) of ‘not lying,’” appositive genitive with articular infinitive

πόθεν ὅτι οὐ δεῖ ψεύδεσθαι: “why it is that one must not lie?”

βεβαιωτικὸς καὶ διαρθρωτικός: supply λόγος.

πόθεν ὅτι τοῦτο ἀπόδειξις: “how (we know) that this is a proof,” i.e., an explanation of the principles of logic. Logis was a key Stoic preoccupation, though not one emphasized by Epictetus. There follows a list of examples of topics in logic, introduced by γάρ (LSJ γάρ I.1.b).

ψεῦδος: “a false conclusion,” “a fallacy” (rather than a lie), see (LSJ ψεῦδος I.A.2.)

ἀναπαύεσθαι: “dwell on,” “focus on”

ἔμπαλιν ποιοῦμεν: “we do the exact opposite”

τοιγαροῦν: “that’s it,” “exactly so”

πρόχειρον ἔχομεν: “we have it at hand,” “we are quite ready” to explain how (πῶς).

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