On Aristotle’s use of examples and how to read them

Bibliographic Data

ID21597939
AuthorsGabriela Rossi (0000-0002-0541-9877, Universidad de los Andes, corresponding author)
Year2025
Volume33
Issue4
Pages719-740
Publication date2025-07-04
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueBritish Journal for the History of Philosophy (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0960-8788 • E-ISSN: 1469-3526
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/09608788.2024.2442929
OpenAlexW4407875820
LanguageEN
References cited21

The purpose of this paper is twofold. One is to show that Aristotle’s study of examples in Prior Analytics (An. Pr.) and Rhetoric (Rh.) (and in particular the ‘comparison’ (parabole) described in Rh 2.20) is useful for philosophy and, moreover, it underlies Aristotle’s discussion of examples in several passages of his philosophical writings. The second is to show that in order to correctly understand the examples that Aristotle presents in his philosophical writings, it is crucial for the reader to successfully identify their logical structure (a task made difficult by the heterogeneous structures covered by Aristotelian examples) and, in the case of comparisons, to identify the relevant features of the illustration presented within its context of use

Art · Epistemology · Literature · Classical Philosophy and Thought · Philosophy

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