Horn question

The sophistic horn question (Latin cornuta quaestio , Greek keratinê zêtêsis ) is, like the crocodile closure, a catch and aims to embarrass and expose the other person (a conundrum ). Eubulides is considered to be the inventor of the horn question . So he asked: “Have you lost your horns?” If the other person answered with “No”, he concluded: “Then you still have your horns.” It should be noted here that the Megarics only tolerated a yes or no as an answer. The statement: "It was not possible for me to throw off horns for lack of horns" was therefore inadmissible.

The interviewee was thus the horned one (Latin: Cornutus, Greek keratinês).

literature

• Rudolf Eisler : Dictionary of Philosophical Terms , 1904
• Friedrich Kirchner : Dictionary of Basic Philosophical Terms , 1907