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978-0-521-89631-3 - Ancient Self-Refutation: The Logic and History of the Self-Refutation

Argument from Democritus to Augustine
Luca Castagnoli
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A N C I E N T S E L F - R E F U TAT I O N

A self-refutation argument is any argument which aims to show that

(and how) a certain thesis is self-refuting. This is the rst monograph-
length treatment of ancient self-refutation and provides a unied
account of what is distinctive in the ancient approach to the self-
refutation argument, on the basis of close philological, logical and
historical analysis of a variety of sources. It examines the logic,
force and prospects of this original style of argumentation within
the context of ancient philosophical debates, dispelling various mis-
conceptions concerning its nature and purpose and elucidating some
important differences which exist both within the ancient approach
to self-refutation and between that approach, as a whole, and some
of its modern counterparts. In providing a comprehensive account
of ancient self-refutation, the book advances our understanding of
inuential and debated texts and arguments from philosophers such
as Democritus, Plato, Aristotle, Epicurus, the Stoics, the Academic
sceptics, the Pyrrhonists and Augustine.

l u c a c a s t a g n o l i is Lecturer in Ancient Philosophy at the Uni-

versity of Durham. He is the author of several articles on a variety of
themes in ancient philosophy.

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978-0-521-89631-3 - Ancient Self-Refutation: The Logic and History of the Self-Refutation
Argument from Democritus to Augustine
Luca Castagnoli
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ANCIENT SELF-REFUTATION
The Logic and History of the Self-Refutation
Argument from Democritus to Augustine

LUCA CASTAGNOLI
University of Durham

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Argument from Democritus to Augustine
Luca Castagnoli
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Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication data

Castagnoli, Luca, 1975
Ancient self-refutation : the logic and history of the self-refutation argument from
Democritus to Augustine / Luca Castagnoli.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 978-0-521-89631-3 (hardback)
1. Refutation (Logic) 2. Reasoning. I. Title.
b491.r44c37 2010
160 dc22 2010018346

isbn 978-0-521-89631-3 Hardback

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Argument from Democritus to Augustine
Luca Castagnoli
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For Valentina

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Argument from Democritus to Augustine
Luca Castagnoli
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Contents

List of illustrations page ix

Acknowledgements x
Notes on the texts and translations xii
Symbols abbreviations xiii
List of abbreviations of authors and works xv
1
Introduction

part i truth, falsehood and self-refutation 11

1 Preliminaries 13
2 A modern approach: Mackie on the absolute self-refutation of
Nothing is true 17
3 Setting the ancient stage: Dissoi Logoi 4.6 24
4 Self-refutation and dialectic: Plato 31
4.1 Dionysodorus downfall (Euthd. 286c288a) 32
4.2 Protagoras refuted (Tht. 170a171d) 40
5 Speaking to Antiphasis: Aristotle 68
5.1 Self-refutation and begging the question (Metaph. G 4, 1008a2730) 68
5.2 Everything is true, Everything is false: the self-elimination stock
objection (Metaph. G 8, 1012b1322) 75
5.3 Dialectical refutations or logical proofs? Some methodological
reections (Metaph. K 5, 1062a36b11) 79
5.4 Apparent self-refutations: it is not possible that statements are all false,
or all true (Metaph. K 6, 1063b305) and the elenctic proof of pnc in G 4 83
6 Introducing peritrop: Sextus Empiricus 95
6.1 Every appearance is true: dialectical reversal or Consequentia
Mirabilis? (M 7.38990) 95
6.2 Nothing is true: two different strategies for reversal (M 8.55 and 7.399) 114

vii

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viii Contents
7 Augustines turn 121
7.1 Truth is imperishable: a Consequentia Mirabilis in the Soliloquia (2.2.2) 121
7.2 Excursus: the medieval legacy of Augustines Ratio 129
8 Interim conclusions 139

part ii pragmatic, ad hominem and operational

self-refutation 143
9 Epicurus against the determinist: blame and reversal 145
10 Anti-sceptical dilemmas: pragmatic or ad hominem
self-refutations? 160
11 Must we philosophise? Aristotles protreptic argument 187
12 Augustines Si fallor, sum: how to prove ones existence by
Consequentia Mirabilis 197
13 A step back: operational self-refutations in Plato 205
13.1 What is operational self-refutation? 205
13.2 The refutation of extreme ux (Tht. 179c183b) 207
13.3 The Ones troubles (Sph. 244bd, 249c68) 218
13.4 The late-learners and that weird fellow Eurycles (Sph. 252bc) 225
13.5 The ineffable ineffability of what is not: Plato (Sph. 238c239b, Prmd.
142a) and the Platonist tradition 236

part iii scepticism and self-refutation 249

14 Self-bracketing Pyrrhonism: Sextus Empiricus 251
14.1 Embracing self-refutation? The relevant passages and the problem 252
14.2 Self-bracketing expressions: purgatives and expunging brackets (PH
1.1315, 1.206) 256
14.3 Self-bracketing arguments: where does the ladder take us? (M 8.46381) 278
15 Scepticism and self-refutation: looking backwards 308
15.1 Reexive vs. non-reexive scepticism: Atomists, Academics and Stoics 308
15.2 Self-refutation in pre-Sextan Pyrrhonism 329
Conclusion 353

References 362
Index of passages 380
General index 389

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Illustrations

1 Attic red-gure psykter (c. 520515 bc), Museum of Fine Arts,

Boston (inv. 01.8019) detail of two wrestlers training in a
palaestra (reverse waist lock). Photograph
C 2010 Museum of
Fine Arts, Boston. page 157
2 Metope of the temple of Hephaestus, Athens (449415 bc)
Theseus wrestling with Kerkyon (upside-down back-to-front
heave). American School of Classical Studies at Athens: Agora
Excavations. 157
3 Hellenistic bronze gurine, National Archaeological Museum,
Athens (AIG 2548) wrestlers upside-down back-to-front heave
of his opponent. 158
4 POxy 20.2256, fr. 3 (secondthird century ad) expunging
brackets (perigrafa) are visible at the fth and sixth line of
the papyrus. Image
C The Imaging Papyri Project, University
of Oxford. Courtesy of the Egypt Exploration Society. 269

ix

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Luca Castagnoli
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Acknowledgements

First of all, I wish to express my deepest gratitude to Nick Denyer for the
skill, air and generosity with which he supervised my Cambridge doctoral
research on ancient self-refutation from October 2001 to December 2004:
without his original input I would have probably ended up writing a very
different book, and certainly a much worse one for that.
Warm thanks also go to Myles Burnyeat and David Sedley for their
invaluable comments and suggestions and for the unwavering support
manifested on a number of occasions in the last ten years. From Myless
work I have learnt more on ancient self-refutation than I could ever hope
to demonstrate in this book.
I am also delighted to be able to thank here Walter Cavini and Tony
Long, by whom I had the luck of being jointly supervised in 1998/9
for my undergraduate Tesi di Laurea Parentesi pirroniane; without this
preliminary work I could hardly have conceived (or dared to undertake)
the much broader project of which this book is the ultimate product. But
to Walter I owe innitely more than this: he introduced me to the wonders
of ancient philosophical thought during my four years as an undergraduate
philosophy student in Bologna, and was the rst to teach me what doing
research in this eld should mean.
In the last few years I have incurred several other debts of gratitude
towards many who, in various ways, have contributed with their input to
my research. In particular I wish to thank Fabio Acerbi, Jacques Brun-
schwig, Alan Code, Lorenzo Corti, Valentina Di Lascio, Paolo Fait, Jakob
Fink, Jean-Baptiste Gourinat, Geoffrey Lloyd, Alex Long, Diego Machuca,
Mark McPherran, Brian Morton, Simonetta Nannini, Mauro Nasti De
Vincentis, Emidio Spinelli, Katja Vogt, Robert Wardy, Mark Wildish and
two anonymous readers for Cambridge University Press.
I have also had the pleasure to present several parts of this book (at
various stages of their preparation) to a number of responsive audiences in

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Luca Castagnoli
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Acknowledgements xi
Rome, Cambridge, Bologna, Padua, Durham, Copenhagen, Berkeley and
St Andrews; I am glad to be able to thank these audiences here.
Needless to say, none of the colleagues and friends I have mentioned
ought to be considered responsible for any remaining errors this book may
contain.
St Johns College (October 2001September 2004) and Magdalene Col-
lege (October 2004August 2007) offered me the best imaginable condi-
tions (a fully funded Benefactors Scholarship and a stipendiary Lumley
Research Fellowship respectively) for pursuing my research, and I am very
glad to acknowledge here my gratitude to the fellows, members and staff
of both colleges. Warm thanks also go to my colleagues and students at the
Department of Classics and Ancient History of Durham University for the
friendly and stimulating working environment in which the nal revision
of this book took place.
An earlier and much shorter version of part i was published as Castagnoli
2007. Section 2 of chapter 4 of part i is a heavily abridged and revised version
of Castagnoli 2004a. Chapter 14 of part iii is a substantially revised and
extended version of Castagnoli 2000.

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Argument from Democritus to Augustine
Luca Castagnoli
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Notes on the texts and translations

I have tried to present translations (which, unless otherwise stated, are

mine) of the ancient texts which are as noncommittal as possible (if any-
thing like a noncommittal translation exists), indicating in parentheses the
bits of the original texts which are more signicant for my discussion and
interpretation, and providing in the footnotes the full Greek or Latin text.
Unless otherwise stated, the editions I have followed are the most recent
standard editions.

xii

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Luca Castagnoli
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Symbols abbreviations

not (negation)
if . . . then (implication)
and (conjunction)
or (disjunction)
if and only if (equivalence)
for every (universal quantier)
for some (existential quantier)
 derivation
T true
F false
<text> <implicit or unstated>
[text] [my explanation or addition]
... gap in my quotation
<...> lacuna in the original text
aap The Sceptics Argument Against Proof (rst introduced
on p. 291)
at Aristotles Thesis (rst introduced on p. 106)
bt Boethius Thesis (rst introduced on p. 107)
cm Consequentia Mirabilis (rst introduced on p. 102)
ct Chrysippus Thesis (rst introduced on p. 109)
it Identity Thesis (rst introduced on p. 26)
kp Theaetetus denition of knowledge as perception (rst
introduced on p. 41)
md Protagoras Measure Doctrine (rst introduced on p. 41)
pap The Sceptics Proof Against Proof (rst introduced on p. 253)
pap The Sceptics Proof Against Proof (with an exception) (rst
introduced on p. 289)
pnc Principle of Non-Contradiction (rst introduced on p. 42)

xiii

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Luca Castagnoli
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xiv Symbols abbreviations

sd Protagoras Secret Doctrine (rst introduced on p. 42)
m Nothing more (Pyrrhonian interpretation) (rst introduced
on p. 261)
m Nothing more (dogmatic misinterpretation) (rst
introduced on p. 262)

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Luca Castagnoli
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Abbreviations of authors and works

Alex. Aphr. Alexander of Aphrodisias

in APr. Commentary on Aristotles Prior Analytics
in Metaph. Commentary on Aristotles Metaphysics
in Top. Commentary on Aristotles Topics
Ps.-Alex. Pseudo-Alexander
in Metaph. Commentary on Aristotles Metaphysics
Ammon. Ammonius
in Cat. Commentary on Aristotles Categories
Anselm of Canterbury
Ver. De Veritate (On Truth)
Mon. Monologium (Monologue)
Apoll. Dysc. Apollonius Dyscolus
Conj. De Conjunctionibus (On Connectors)
Synt. De Syntaxi (On Syntax)
Apul. Apuleius
Int. De Interpretatione (On Interpretation)
Aristoc. Aristocles of Messene
[On Philosophy excerpts quoted in Eus.
PE]
Aristoph. Aristophanes
Nu. Nubes (The Clouds)
Vesp. Vespae (The Wasps)
Arist. Aristotle
APr. Analytica Priora (Prior Analytics)
APo. Analytica Posteriora (Posterior Analytics)
Ath. On the Constitution of Athens
xv

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xvi List of abbreviations

Cat. Categories
GA De Generatione Animalium (On the
Generation of Animals)
GC De Generatione et Corruptione (On
Coming-to-be and Passing-away)
HA Historia Animalium (Observation of
Animals)
Int. De Interpretatione (On Interpretation)
Metaph. Metaphysics
NE Nicomachean Ethics
Poet. Poetics
Rhet. Rhetoric
SE Sophistici Elenchi (Sophistical Refutations)
Top. Topics
Ath. Athenaeus
[Deipnosophistae (The Sophists at Dinner)]
Aug. Augustine
Acad. Contra Academicos (Against the Academics)
Civ. Dei De Civitate Dei (On the City of God)
Conf. Confessiones (Confessions)
Doct. Chr. De Doctrina Christiana (On the Christian
Doctrine)
Lib. Arb. De Libero Arbitrio (On Free Choice)
Sol. Soliloquia (Soliloquies)
Trin. De Trinitate (On the Trinity)
Ver. Rel. De Vera Religione (On the True Religion)
Vit. Beat. De Vita Beata (On the Blessed Life)
Boeth. Boethius
Hyp. Syll. On Hypothetical Syllogisms
in Cic. Top. Commentary on Ciceros Topics
Bonaventure of Bagnoregio
Coll. Collationes in Hexaemeron (Collations in
the Hexameron)
Myst. Trin. De Mysterio Trinitatis (On the Mystery of
the Trinity)
in Sent. Commentaria in Quatuor Libros
Sententiarum (Commentary on the Four
Books of the Sentences)

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List of abbreviations xvii

Cic. Cicero
Ac. Academica (Academic Books)
Div. De Divinatione (On Divination)
Fat. De Fato (On Fate)
Fin. De Finibus Bonorum et Malorum (On
Moral Ends)
Luc. Lucullus (second book of the rst edition
of Academica)
Top. Topica (Topics)
Tusc. Tusculanae Disputationes (Disputations at
Tusculum)
Clem. Alex. Clement of Alexandria
Strom. Stromata (Miscellanies)
Damascius
Princ. De Principiis (Doubts and Solutions
Concerning First Principles)
David
Prol. Phil. Prolegomena Philosophiae (Forewords to
Philosophy)
D.L. Diogenes Laertius
[Vitae Philosophorum (Lives of
Philosophers)]
Diosc. Ped. Dioscorides Pedanius
Mat. Med. De Materia Medica (On Medicinal
Substances)
Elias
in Porph. Isag. Commentary on Porphyrys Introduction
Epict. Epictetus
Disc. Discourses
Epic. Epicurus
Men. Letter to Menoeceus
SV Sententiae Vaticanae (Vatican Sayings)
Eurip. Euripides
Bacch. Bacchae

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Luca Castagnoli
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xviii List of abbreviations

Eus. Eusebius of Caesarea
PE Praeparatio Evangelica (Preparation for the
Gospel)
Gal. Galen
Inst. Log. Institutio Logica (Introduction to Logic)
Libr. Propr. De Libriis Propriis (On My Own Books)
Opt. Doct. De Optima Doctrina (On the Best
Doctrine)
Plac. Hipp. et Plat. De Placitis Hippocratis et Platonis (On the
Doctrines of Hippocrates and Plato)
Gell. Gellius
NA Noctes Atticae (Attic Nights)
Hipp. Hippocrates
Mul. De Mulierum Affectibus (On Womens
Affections)
Nat. Hom. De Natura Hominum (On the Nature of
Men)
Iambl. Iamblichus
Protr. Protreptic
John Duns Scotus
Ordin. Ordinatio (Ordination)
Lact. Lactantius
Div. Inst. Divinae Institutiones (Divine Institutions)
Lucretius
DRN De Rerum Natura (On Nature)
Numen. Numenius
Olymp. Olympiodorus
in Alcib. Commentary on Platos Alcibiades
Origen
Cels. Contra Celsum (Against Celsus)
in Ev. Ioan. Commentary on Johns Gospel
POxy Oxyrhynchus Papyri
Paul Paul of Tarsus
Tit. Letter to Titus

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List of abbreviations xix

Phld. Philodemus
Sign. De Signis (On Signs)
Phot. Photius
Bibl. Bibliotheca (Library)
Pl. Plato
Apol. Apology of Socrates
Chrm. Charmides
Crat. Cratylus
Euthd. Euthydemus
Euthphr. Euthyphro
Hp. Ma. Hippias Major
Phdr. Phaedrus
Phlb. Philebus
Prmd. Parmenides
Prt. Protagoras
Resp. Republic
Sph. Sophist
Tht. Theaetetus
Tim. Timaeus
Plotinus
Enn. Enneads
Plut. Plutarch
Alex. Fort. De Alexandri Fortuna aut Virtute (On
Alexanders Fortune or Virtue)
Cohib. Ira De Cohibenda Ira (On Controlling Anger)
Colot. Adversus Colotem (Against Colotes)
Comm. Not. De Communibus Notitiis (On Common
Conceptions)
Cons. ad Apol. Consolatio ad Apollonium (Consolatory
Letter to Apollonius)
Def. Orac. De Defectu Oraculorum (The Obsolescence
of Oracles)
Peric. Pericles
Prof. Virt. Quomodo Quis Suos in Virtute Sentiat
Profectus (How One Perceives Ones
Improvements in Virtue)
Quaest. Conv. Quaestiones Conviviales (Table-Talk)

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xx List of abbreviations
Stoic. Rep. De Stoicorum Repugnantiis (On the
Contradictions of the Stoics)
Proclus
in Prmd. Commentary on Platos Parmenides
Theol. Plat. Theologia Platonica (Platonic Theology)
Quint. Quintilian
Inst. Orat. Institutio Oratoria (Institutions of Oratory)
schol. in Ammon. Scholium to Ammonius Commentary on
in Arist. APr. Aristotles Prior Analytics
Seneca
Mor. Epistulae Morales (Moral Letters)
S.E. Sextus Empiricus
M Adversus Mathematicos
(books 16: Against the Professors;
books 78: Against the Logicians;
books 910: Against the Physicists;
book 11: Against the Ethicists)
PH Pyrrhoneioi Hypotyposeis (Outlines of
Pyrrhonism)
Stob. Stobaeus
Flor. Florilegium (Anthology)
Syrian. Syrianus
in Metaph. Commentary on Aristotles Metaphysics
Thomas Aquinas
Sum. Theol. Summa Theologiae (Synopsis of Theology)
Ver. Quaestiones Disputatae de Veritate
(Disputed Questions on Truth)

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