Note 32 — Chapter X · SOPHISTICI ELENCHI.

Soph. El. v. p. 167, a. 21-35: οἱ δὲ παρὰ τὸ μὴ διωρίσθαι τί ἐστι συλλογισμὸς ἢ τί ἔλεγχος, ἀλλὰ παρὰ τὴν ἔλλειψιν γίνονται τοῦ λόγου.

We may remark, by the way, that it is not very consistent in Aristotle to recognize one general head of Sophistical Refutation called Ignoratio Elenchi, after the definition that he has given of the Sophist at the beginning of this treatise. He had told us that the Sophist was a dishonest man, who made it his profession to study and practise these tricks, for the purpose of making himself pass for a clever man, and of getting money. According to this definition, there is no Ignoratio Elenchi in the Sophist, though there may be in the person who supposes himself refuted. The Sophist is assumed to know what he is about, and to be aware that his argument is a fallacious one.