The Etymologies of Isidore of Seville - Pot-pourri

86 II.xxix.13–xxx.8 Isidore of Seville
short of an as by two-thirds.” 32 13.The twelfth species of
definition in Greek is , thatis,‘by praise’
(per laudem), as Cicero in his Defense of Cluentius (146):
“Law is the mind and spirit and counsel and judgment
of the citizen body.” And elsewhere (Cicero, Philippics
2.113): “Peace is tranquil freedom.” It is also ‘by reproach’
(per vituperationem), which the Greeks call , as
(ibid.): “Slavery is the last of all evils, to be repelled not
only by war, but also by death.” 14.Thethirteenth species
of definition is called in Greek, and ‘by
relationship’ (ad aliquid)inLatin, as is this: “A father is
a man who has a son,” “A master is a man who has a
slave.”
15. The fourteenth species of definition is
(“by definition”), as Cicero on rhetoric (On Invention
1.42): “A ‘genus’ is that which embraces several
parts.” Again, “A ‘part’ is what falls under a genus.” 33
16.Thefifteenth species of definition is called
in Greek, and ‘by the thing’s cause’ (secundum
rei rationem)inLatin,as:“Dayisthe sun over the earth;
night is the sun under the earth.”
We should know that the aforementioned species of
definitions are rightly linked with the subject of topics,
because they are set among certain of its arguments, and
are mentioned in several places among the topics. Now
let us come to the topics, which are the seats of arguments,
the springs of understanding, and the sources of
style.
xxx. Topics (De topicis) 34 1.Topics(topica) isthediscipline
of coming up with arguments. The division of
topics, or of the commonplaces (locus)with which arguments
are expressed, is threefold. Some inhere in the
thing itself that is in question; others, which are called
‘effects’ (effectum), are understood to be drawn in a certain
way from other matters; others are taken from outside
(extrinsecus). Arguments (argumentum) that inhere
in the thing itself that is in question are divided into three.
First, from the whole; second, from the part; third, from
the known.
2. The argument is ‘from the whole’ when a definition
is applied to what is in question, as Cicero says (cf.
Defense ofMarcellus26): “Glory is praise rightly won
by deeds and renown for great services to the state.”
3. The argument is ‘from parts’ when he who defends
himself either denies a deed or makes the defense that
the deed was legal. 4. The argument is ‘from a slur’ (a
nota)when some argument is chosen because of the force
of a particular term, as Cicero (Against Piso 19): “I was
seeking, as I say, a consul – whom I could not find in
that gelded boar.”
5. Effects (effectum) are arguments that are known
to be drawn in some way from other matters. These
are fourteen in number. The first is the argument ‘by
cognates’ (aconiugatis), as one adapts a noun and makes
averb,asCicero says Verres ‘swept’ (everrere)aprovince
(Second Action Against Verres 2.52). Or a noun from a
verb,when a ‘thief’ is said to ‘thieve.’ Or a noun is made
from a noun; Terence (cf. Andria 218)–
It is a scheme of lunatics (amentium), scarcely of lovers
(amantium) –
where the ending of one term differs, formed in another
declension. 35 6.The second argument is ‘from generality’
(agenere), when a maxim is spoken concerning the same
genus, as Vergil (cf. Aen. 4.569):
Achanging and inconstant gender. 36
7. The third argument is ‘from the specific’ (ab specie),
when a specific thing creates trust in the general question,
as (Aen. 7.363):
Did not the Phrygian shepherd thus enter Lacedaemon?
The argument is ‘from likeness’ (a simile) when similitudes
ofsomethingsare put forward (Aen. 10.333):
Bring close my weapons; my hand will not hurl any at
the Rutulians in vain, weapons which stood in Greek
bodies on the Trojan plain.
8. The argument is ‘by differentiation’ (a differentia)
when some things are made distinct by difference, as
Vergil (Aen. 10.581):
You do not espy the horses of Diomede, or the chariot of
Achilles.
32 The triens is one-third of the weight of the as.
33 No Latin term is provided for the fourteenth species. The Greek,
an editorial conjecture, means “by definition” or “by a term in a
proposition.” If Isidore wrote here a form of definitio it would easily
have been lost by haplography.
34 The name of the discipline, ‘topics,’ derives from the title of
Aristotle’s work on commonplaces to be used in argumentation, the
Topica. Thetermderives from the Greek , “place.”
35 Terence actually wrote inceptio (“scheme”), not interceptio.The
example Isidore has chosen does not fit his statement.
36 Vergil actually wrote, “A varying and changeable thing is
woman always.” Isidore’s paraphrase (Varium et mutabile genus)
plays on the two meanings of genus, “gender” and “genus.”