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Sophistical Refutations (Greek: Σοφιστικοὶ Ἔλεγχοι, romanized: Sophistikoi Elenchoi; Latin: De Sophisticis Elenchis) is a text in Aristotle's Organon in which he identified thirteen fallacies.[note 1] According to Aristotle, this is the first work to treat the subject of deductive reasoning in ancient Greece (Soph. Ref., 34, 183b34 ff.).
On Sophistical Refutations[1][2] consists of 34 chapters. The book naturally falls in two parts: chapters concerned with tactics for the Questioner (3–8 and 12–15) and chapters concerned with tactics for the Answerer (16–32). Besides, there is an introduction (1–2), an interlude (9–11), and a conclusion (33–34).[3]
The fallacies Aristotle identifies in Chapter 4 (formal fallacies) and 5 (informal fallacies) of this book are the following:
- Fallacies in the language or formal fallacies (in dictionem):
- Equivocation
- Amphiboly
- Composition
- Division
- Accent
- Figure of speech or form of expression
- Fallacies not in the language or informal fallacies (extra dictionem):
- Sometimes listed as twelve.
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