The Latin “ceteris paribus” – for one thing, I don’t know what it means literally. The idea is that you change only one thing, and see where that leads. In real life, you usually don’t get that degree of control…
Anyway, is there a Greek (ancient) equivalent of this idea? The Greeks had cool rhetorical names for all sorts of things…
It literally means “other things [being] the same”, from the Latin words ceterus (“the other”) and par (“even; equal; alike”).
No idea what the Greek equivalent would be, I’m afraid.
One answer is the Greek Wikipedia page on that topic. It offers several translations into Greek:
με αμετάβλητα τα λοιπά στοιχεία
me ametávlita ta loipá stoicheía
literally ‘with the other elements unchanged’
με αμετάβλητα τα λοιπά δεδομένα
me ametávlita ta loipá dedoména
‘with the other data unchanged’
υπό την προϋπόθεση ότι οι λοιποί όροι θα παραμείνουν αμετάβλητοι
ypó tin proüpóthesi óti oi loipoí óroi tha parameínoun ametávlitoi
‘provided that the other conditions will remain unchanged’
υπό την προϋπόθεση ότι οι λοιποί όροι θα μείνουν ως έχουν
ypó tin proüpóthesi óti oi loipoí óroi tha meínoun os échoun
‘provided that the other conditions will stay as they are’
με τα υπόλοιπα δεδομένα σταθερά
me ta ypóloipa dedoména statherá
‘with the other data being constant’
άνευ μεταβολής των πραγμάτων
ánef metavolís ton pragmáton
‘without change of the things’
or even
και ούτω καθ’ εξής
kai oúto kath’ exís
‘and so forth’.
But note: Farther down it says: “In the Greek text it often appears untranslated.” The above translations are in Modern Greek, of course. How to say it in ancient Greek could probably be looked up in the online Liddell & Scott. If the article is correct, though, perhaps even the ancient Greeks quoted it in the original Latin.
Nitpick: SFAIK it’s a modern expression, not used in the classical period by either Greek- or Latin-speakers.
why not just use “all else equal” like we normally do in English?
Cool! I had thought it was classical, or at least from Augustine or Aquinas or…I dunno. Thanks!
Same reason we use a lot of Latin. e.g., i.e., etc. It sounds knowthy!
What we normally say in English is “all other things being equal”. “Ceteris paribus” has the merit of being shorter, but I don’t know that that counts for very much, really.
There, thoguh, is a “jargon” use of the phrase, in the term “ceteris paribus laws”, meaning the class of laws which are useful and reliable only to the extent that other factors do not change (as opposed to fundamental laws, which are universally true). “Ceteris paribus laws” strikes me as usefully shorter and more concise than “laws which hold good only so long as other factors do not change”.