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 /

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

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Etymology

Origin of sorites

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

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

sorites

The whole must needs follow by a sorites or induction.

From The Anatomy of Melancholy by Robert Burton

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

From Deductive Logic by St. George William Joseph Stock

In expanding the progressive form we have to commence with the second proposition of the sorites as the major premiss of the first syllogism.

From Deductive Logic by St. George William Joseph Stock

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

From Deductive Logic by St. George William Joseph Stock

If you are not a man of taste, how can you ever hope to be of use in the world?'—a sorites, says my brother, which must, he thinks, be somewhere defective.

From The Life of Sir James Fitzjames Stephen, Bart., K.C.S.I. A Judge of the High Court of Justice by Sir Leslie Stephen

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