Single Idea 20768

[catalogued under 2. Reason / C. Styles of Reason / 1. Dialectic]

Full Idea

He said that dialectical arguments were like spiderswebs: although they seem to indicate craftsmanlike skill, they are useless.

Gist of Idea

Like spiderswebs, dialectical arguments are clever but useless

Source

report of Ariston (fragments/reports [c.250 BCE]) by Diogenes Laertius - Lives of Eminent Philosophers 07.161

Book Reference

'The Stoics Reader', ed/tr. Inwood,B/Gerson,L.P. [Hackett 2008], p.4


A Reaction

Useful for the spider, but useless to Ariston.