Abstract

In addition to presenting the first critical edition and comprehensive study of both the content and historical background of a well-known sophisma (and fallacy) – namely, Coriscus est alter ab homine (Coriscus is other than man) – the chapter uses it as a case in point to reassess the broader relationship between medieval fallacies and sophismata. It argues for a much closer synergy and a difference of simple degree rather than essence between the two. In so doing, sophismata and fallacies are replaced within the framework of Latin logic understood as a “logic in reverse” of sorts, that is a logical project grounded in the persuasion that only by testing a rule to its breaking point – by pushing it to its outermost limits and beyond – can one truly gauge its validity, force and universality. The edition of the eponymous sophisma is provided as an appendix of the study proper.