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Thursday, December 2, 2021

Wisdom from the Early Stoics, Zeno of Citium 40


A judgement is that which is either true or false, or a thing complete in itself, capable of being denied in and by itself, as Chrysippus says in his Dialectical Definitions: "A judgement is that which in and by itself can be denied or affirmed, e.g. 'It is day,' 'Dion is walking.'" 

The Greek word for judgement (ἀξίωμα) is derived from the verb ἀξιοῦν, as signifying acceptance or rejection; for when you say "It is day," you seem to accept the fact that it is day. Now, if it really is day, the judgement before us is true, but if not, it is false.

—Diogenes Laërtius, 7.65




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