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Socrates 

Socrates

Socrates
Socrates

 “Strong minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, weak minds discuss people.”

“If you don’t get what you want, you suffer; if you get what you don’t want, you suffer; even when you get exactly what you want, you still suffer because you can’t hold on to it forever. Your mind is your predicament. It wants to be free of change. Free of pain, free of the obligations of life and death. But change is law and no amount of pretending will alter that reality.”

 “I am not an Athenian or a Greek, but a citizen of the world.”

“True wisdom comes to each of us when we realize how little we understand about life, ourselves, and the world around us”

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Socrates 

Socrates “Strong minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, weak minds discuss people.”

“If you don’t get what you want, you suffer; if you get what you don’t want, you suffer; even when you get exactly what you want, you still suffer because you can’t hold on to it forever. Your mind is your predicament. It wants to be free of change. Free of pain, free of the obligations of life and death. But change is law and no amount of pretending will alter that reality.”

“True wisdom comes to each of us when we realize how little we understand about life, ourselves, and the world around us.”

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Categorical syllogism

Description

The basic form of the categorical syllogism is: If A is part of C then B is a part of C. (A and B are members of C).

Major premise

The major premise (the first statement) is a general statement of the form ‘All/none/some A are B’, for example:

All men are mortal.

This statement is not challenged and is assumed to be true.

Minor premise

The minor premise (the second statement) is also a statement about inclusion and is also assumed to be true. It is usually a specific statement, for example:

Socrates is a man.

It may also be a general statement with a reduced scope. Thus, for example, when the major premise takes the format of ‘all’, the minor premise may be ‘some’. The minor premise is also assumed to be true.

Conclusion

The conclusion is a third statement, based on a combination of the major and minor premise.

Socrates is mortal.

From the truth of the first two statements, a truth is created in this third statement. The trouble is that this ‘truth’ is not always true — yet it often appears to be quite a logical conclusion.

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