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6027 | From the fact that some men die, we cannot infer that they all do |
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. | |||
From: Philodemus (On Signs (damaged) [c.50 BCE], 1.3) | |||
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. |