So both
premisses will predicate essence, and consequently B also will be
predicated of C as its essence. Since, therefore, both premisses do
predicate essence-i.e. definable form-C's definable form will appear
in the middle term before the conclusion is drawn.
We may generalize by supposing that it is possible to prove the
essential nature of man. Let C be man, A man's essential
nature--two-footed animal, or aught else it may be. Then, if we are to
syllogize, A must be predicated of all B. But this premiss will be
mediated by a fresh definition, which consequently will also be the
essential nature of man. Therefore the argument assumes what it has to
prove, since B too is the essential nature of man. It is, however, the
case in which there are only the two premisses-i.e. in which the
premisses are primary and immediate-which we ought to investigate,
because it best illustrates the point under discussion.
Thus they who prove the essential nature of soul or man or
anything else through reciprocating terms beg the question. It would
be begging the question, for example, to contend that the soul is that
which causes its own life, and that what causes its own life is a
self-moving number; for one would have to postulate that the soul is a
self-moving number in the sense of being identical with it.
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