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Full Idea
There is no necessary inference, from the fact that men familiar to us die when pierced through the heart, that all men do.
Gist of Idea
From the fact that some men die, we cannot infer that they all do
Source
Philodemus (On Signs (damaged) [c.50 BCE], 1.3)
Book Ref
'The Hellenistic Philosophers:Vol.1 translations', ed/tr. Long,A. /Sedley,D. [CUP 1987], p.261
A Reaction
This is scepticism about the logic of induction, long before David Hume. This is said to be a Stoic argument against Epicureans - though on the whole Stoics are not keen on scepticism.
| 22241 | Don't fear god or worry about death; the good is easily got and the terrible easily cured [Philodemus] |
| 6027 | From the fact that some men die, we cannot infer that they all do [Philodemus] |