Abstract
According to the terminology of the middle ages, an obligational disputation in the species of positio impossibilis is a disputation where the respondent is given the duty to defend an impossible sentence, called the positum.First and foremost, he must grant this sentence if it is put forward during the disputation. Further, he must grant whatever follows from this impossible assumption and deny whatever is repugnant to it, if such sentences are put forward to him during the disputation. However, he must avoid both granting and denying the same sentence, since that would amount to a straightforward contradiction.
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References
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Yrjönsuuri, M. (2000). The Trinity and Positio Impossibilis: Some Remarks on Inconsistence. In: HolmstrÖm-Hintikka, G. (eds) Medieval Philosophy and Modern Times. Synthese Library, vol 288. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-4227-4_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-4227-4_5
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