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

In the regressive sorites the proposition which stands first is the only one which appears as a major premiss in the expanded form.

From Deductive Logic by Stock, St. George William Joseph

In some of my lectures at Harvard I have spoken of what I call the 'faith-ladder,' as something quite different from the sorites of the logic-books, yet seeming to have an analogous form.

From A Pluralistic Universe Hibbert Lectures at Manchester College on the Present Situation in Philosophy by James, William

The syllogisms which compose a regular sorites, whether progressive or regressive, will always be in the first figure.

From Deductive Logic by Stock, St. George William Joseph

The whole must needs follow by a sorites or induction.

From The Anatomy of Melancholy by Burton, Robert

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