back to ideas for this text


Single Idea 21594

[from 'fragments/reports' by Stoic school, in 7. Existence / D. Theories of Reality / 10. Vagueness / g. Degrees of vagueness ]

Full Idea

The Stoics were prepared to apply bivalence to sorites reasoning, and swallow the consequences. ...For example, they denied that there are degrees of virtue, holding that one is either vicious or perfectly virtuous.

Gist of Idea

Stoics applied bivalence to sorites situations, so everyone is either vicious or wholly virtuous

Source

report of Stoic school (fragments/reports [c.200 BCE]) by Timothy Williamson - Vagueness 1.2

Book Reference

Williamson,Timothy: 'Vagueness' [Routledge 1996], p.13


A Reaction

Williamson sympathises with this view, but the virtue example suggests to me that it is crazy. One of my objections to traditional religion is the sharp (and wickedly unjust) binary judgement between those who go to heaven and those who go to hell.