[2]
Now, a maxim is a statement, not however concerning
particulars, as, for instance, what sort of a man Iphicrates was, but general;
it does not even deal with all general things, as for instance that the straight
is the opposite of the crooked, but with the objects of human actions, and with
what should be chosen or avoided with reference to them. And as the enthymeme
is, we may say,1 the syllogism dealing
with such things, maxims are the premises or conclusions of enthymemes without
the syllogism. For example: “
No man who is sensible ought to have his children taught to be
excessively clever,2
” is a maxim; but when the why and the wherefore are added, the whole
makes an enthymeme; for instance, “
for, not to speak of the charge of idleness brought against
them,3 they earn jealous hostility from
the citizens.
”
Another example: “
There is no man who is happy in everything;4
” or, “
There is no man who is really free.
” The latter is a maxim, but taken with the next verse it is an
enthymeme: “
for he is the slave of either wealth or fortune.5
”
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Aristotle in 23 Volumes, Vol. 22, translated by J. H. Freese. Aristotle. Cambridge and London. Harvard University Press; William Heinemann Ltd. 1926.
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