From the book
Stobaeus, Volume II
John Stobaeus · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordCollection brings dispersed instances under a single form so that a subject can be defined clearly. It complements division rather than replacing discrimination among kinds.
- In StobaeusSocrates credits the procedure with clarity and internal agreement even while leaving open whether the preceding account of Love was well or badly stated.
- In this editionCollection or gathering together follows the intellectual procedure. Avoid equating it with synthesis, compilation or the mere accumulation of examples without an organizing form.
- A place to readChapter 2 · Excerpt 3 · Passage 1 Read the account of Love as an example of defining a subject clearly while retaining the speaker’s qualification about whether the account itself was good.
- English renderings
- collection; gathering together
Meaning
Sunagōgē means a bringing together. In the Phaedrus excerpt its plural names the procedure that gathers scattered instances under one form, complementing division into kinds.
Use in the book
Socrates first describes seeing dispersed things together so that a speaker can make the subject clear by defining it. The example is Love: the account acquires clarity and agreement with itself even though the speaker leaves open whether it was well or badly stated. Later Socrates calls himself a lover of collections and divisions, linking them with the ability to speak and think. Collection is consequently more than compiling examples. It makes their unity available for a coherent account, while requiring the complementary discrimination of relevant differences.
The passage begins by reflecting on procedures that happened to appear in a discussion. Turning their power into an art would make their use more deliberate. Collection serves a teaching purpose: defining the subject clarifies what the speaker wishes to explain. The qualification about Love separates intelligibility from correctness. A discourse can possess a stable subject and agree with itself while still requiring evaluation. This is why collection supplies a useful starting structure for inquiry without making the resulting definition immune to criticism.
Places to read
- Chapter 2 · Excerpt 3 · Passage 123456Scattered material is brought under one form to clarify a definition.
- Chapter 2 · Excerpt 3 · Passage 3234Socrates names collections together with divisions.
Translation in this edition
Collection is appropriate where the logical procedure is meant. Gathering together can make the initial image clearer. Do not substitute synthesis, which has a different Greek headword in this companion.
συναγωγῶν
Attested. Chapter 2 · Excerpt 3 · Passage 3; Wachsmuth II, printed p. 17.
τῶν διαιρέσεων καὶ συναγωγῶν
Source note
Wachsmuth, volume II, printed pp. 16–17. The passage preserves qualifications about both the quality of the account and the name dialectician. It does not make every proposed collection correct merely because it unifies its material.