A syllogism: other men die; but I

Am not another; therefore I’ll not die. (l.213-4)

 

This could be a reference to Leo Tolstoy’s “Death of Ivan Ilyich” (1886): All men die. Kay is a man. Therefore, Kay will die. But, thinks Ivan Ilyich, I’m not Kay; therefore, that doesn’t apply to me. What may be true about all other men, is not necessarily true about me. The first part (about Kay) is an example of the type of syllogism called “Barbara” and Tolstoy probably took it from some textbook on logic (Bertrand Russell’s example of “Barbara” cited in a chapter on Aristotle: All men are mortal; Socrates is a man; therefore, Socrates is mortal), but I don’t have a good edition of Tolstoy’s works with commentary at hand to confirm this.

 

Regards,

SK