  This is usually understood as implying that the argument was grounded on statements (I) and (II), and had (IV), which is the contradictory of (III), as conclusion; and this is about as far as the passages lead us. But how did the argument run? A viable reconstruction has to satisfy a number of more or less trivial conditions. It must make use of the principles (I) and (II) handed down in Epictetus; in addition to these, it must make use solely of premises plausible to the Stoics; and it must appear valid. For we know that different Stoic philosophers attempted to refute (I) or (II), but we do not hear of anyone questioning the truth of any other premise or the validity of the argument. Moreover, the reconstruction must employ only the logical means and concepts available in antiquity; in particular the notions of proposition, consequence, and modalities used must fit in with the logic of the time, and it must be possible to formulate the argument in ordinary language. Finally, the restored argument should not have a complexity which precludes its presentation at a social gathering, since it appears that people enjoyed discussing the Master argument over dinner (Epictetus, Dissertations. 2.19.8).