sorites

American  

[saw-rahy-teez, soh-] / sɔˈraɪ tiz, soʊ- /

noun

Logic.

1. a form of argument having several premises and one conclusion, capable of being resolved into a chain of syllogisms, the conclusion of each of which is a premise of the next.

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sorites British  

/ sɒˈraɪtiːz, sɒˈrɪtɪkəl /

noun

1. logic

   1. a polysyllogism in which the premises are arranged so that intermediate conclusions are omitted, being understood, and only the final conclusion is stated

   2. a paradox of the form

      these few grains of sand do not constitute a heap, and the addition of a single grain never makes what is not yet a heap into a heap: so no matter how many single grains one adds it never becomes a heap

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Other Word Forms

• soritic adjective
• soritical adjective

Etymology

Origin of sorites

1545–55; < Latin sōrītēs < Greek sōreítēs literally, heaped, piled up, derivative of sōrós a heap

Example Sentences

Here is a concrete example of the two kinds of sorites, resolved each into its component syllogisms— Progressive Sorites.

From Deductive Logic by Stock, St. George William Joseph

Gu�pin also highlights that deduction thrives with dichotomy but hesitates with the sorites, i.e. the problem of accumulating grains of sand until the mountain moves.

From Definition & Reality in the General Theory of Political Economy by Colignatus, Thomas

Kindly observe the neat gradations, the artistic sorites of Mpongwe lies.

From Two Trips to Gorilla Land and the Cataracts of the Congo Volume 1 by Burton, Richard Francis, Sir

Both the instances chosen belong to the progressive order of sorites.

From Deductive Logic by Stock, St. George William Joseph

He has himself admitted a kind of sorites of indebtedness to Diderot, Sterne, Swift, Rabelais, Folengo, Lucian, and Petronius.

From A History of the French Novel, Vol. 2 To the Close of the 19th Century by Saintsbury, George