back to ideas for this text


Single Idea 166

[from 'Phaedrus' by Plato, in 1. Philosophy / F. Analytic Philosophy / 2. Analysis by Division ]

Full Idea

A speaker must be able to define a subject generically, and then to divide it into its various specific kinds until he reaches the limits of divisibility.

Gist of Idea

A speaker should be able to divide a subject, right down to the limits of divisibility

Source

Plato (Phaedrus [c.366 BCE], 277b)

Book Reference

Plato: 'Phaedrus and Letters VII and VIII', ed/tr. Hamilton,Walter [Penguin 1973], p.100