Aristotle’s Modal Syllogistic

Aristotle’s Modal Syllogistic
Author: Marko Malink
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Total Pages: 250
Release: 2013-11-01
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0674727541

Aristotle was the founder not only of logic but also of modal logic. In the Prior Analytics he developed a complex system of modal syllogistic which, while influential, has been disputed since antiquity—and is today widely regarded as incoherent. In this meticulously argued new study, Marko Malink presents a major reinterpretation of Aristotle’s modal syllogistic. Combining analytic rigor with keen sensitivity to historical context, he makes clear that the modal syllogistic forms a consistent, integrated system of logic, one that is closely related to other areas of Aristotle’s philosophy. Aristotle’s modal syllogistic differs significantly from modern modal logic. Malink considers the key to understanding the Aristotelian version to be the notion of predication discussed in the Topics—specifically, its theory of predicables (definition, genus, differentia, proprium, and accident) and the ten categories (substance, quantity, quality, and so on). The predicables introduce a distinction between essential and nonessential predication. In contrast, the categories distinguish between substantial and nonsubstantial predication. Malink builds on these insights in developing a semantics for Aristotle’s modal propositions, one that verifies the ancient philosopher’s claims of the validity and invalidity of modal inferences. Malink recognizes some limitations of this reconstruction, acknowledging that his proof of syllogistic consistency depends on introducing certain complexities that Aristotle could not have predicted. Nonetheless, Aristotle’s Modal Syllogistic brims with bold ideas, richly supported by close readings of the Greek texts, and offers a fresh perspective on the origins of modal logic.

Aristotle's Modal Syllogistic

Aristotle's Modal Syllogistic
Author: Marko Malink
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Total Pages: 382
Release: 2013-11-01
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0674726359

Aristotle was the founder not only of logic but also of modal logic. In the Prior Analytics he developed a complex system of modal syllogistic which, while influential, has been disputed since antiquity--and is today widely regarded as incoherent. Combining analytic rigor with keen sensitivity to historical context, Marko Malink makes clear that the modal syllogistic forms a consistent, integrated system of logic, one that is closely related to other areas of Aristotle's philosophy. Aristotle's modal syllogistic differs significantly from modern modal logic. Malink considers the key to understanding the Aristotelian version to be the notion of predication discussed in the Topics--specifically, its theory of predicables (definition, genus, differentia, proprium, and accident) and the ten categories (substance, quantity, quality, and so on). The predicables introduce a distinction between essential and nonessential predication. In contrast, the categories distinguish between substantial and nonsubstantial predication. Malink builds on these insights in developing a semantics for Aristotle's modal propositions, one that verifies the ancient philosopher's claims of the validity and invalidity of modal inferences. While it acknowledges some limitations of this reconstruction, Aristotle's Modal Syllogistic brims with bold ideas, richly supported by close readings of the Greek texts.

Aristotle’s Theory of the Syllogism

Aristotle’s Theory of the Syllogism
Author: G. Patzig
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 232
Release: 2013-03-09
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9401707871

The present book is the English version of a monograph 'Die aristotelische Syllogistik', which first appeared ten years ago in the series of Abhand 1 lungen edited by the Academy of Sciences in Gottingen. In the preface to the English edition, I would first like to express my indebtedness to Mr. J. Barnes, now fellow of Oriel College, Oxford. He not only translated what must have been a difficult text with exemplary precision and ingenuity, but followed critically every argument and check ed every reference. While translating it, he has improved the book. Of those changes which I have made on Mr. Barnes' suggestion I note only the more important ones on pages 4, 12, 24sq, 32, 39, 6lsq, and 158. Since the second edition of the German text appeared in 1963 some further reviews have been published, or come to my notice, which I have 2 been able to make use of in improving the text of this new edition. I must mention here especially the detailed critical discussions of my results and arguments published by Professor W. Wieland in the Philosophische Rundschau 14 (1966), 1-27 and by Professor E. Scheibe in Gnomon 39 (1967), 454-64. Both scholars, while agreeing with the main drift and method of my interpretation, criticise some of my results and disagree with some of my arguments. It would not be possible to discuss these technical matters here with the necessary thoroughness.

Hypothetical Syllogistic and Stoic Logic

Hypothetical Syllogistic and Stoic Logic
Author: Anthony Speca
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 161
Release: 2016-06-21
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9004321128

This volume traces the development of Aristotle’s hypothetical syllogistic through antiquity, and shows for the first time how it later became misidentified with the logic of the rival Stoic school. By charting the origins of this error, the book illuminates elements of Aristotelian logic that have been obscured for almost two thousand years, and raises important issues concerning the distinctive roles of semantic and syntactic analysis in theories of logical consequence. The first chapters of the book deal with the original Aristotelian hypothetical syllogistic, and explain how Aristotle’s later followers began to conflate it with Stoic logic. The final chapters examine in detail the two most crucial surviving treatments of the subject, Boethius’s On hypothetical syllogisms and On Cicero’s Topics, which carried this conflation into the Middle Ages.

The Aftermath of Syllogism

The Aftermath of Syllogism
Author: Marco Sgarbi
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 233
Release: 2018-01-25
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1350043532

Syllogism is a form of logical argument allowing one to deduce a consistent conclusion based on a pair of premises having a common term. Although Aristotle was the first to conceive and develop this way of reasoning, he left open a lot of conceptual space for further modifications, improvements and systematizations with regards to his original syllogistic theory. From its creation until modern times, syllogism has remained a powerful and compelling device of deduction and argument, used by a variety of figures and assuming a variety of forms throughout history. The Aftermath of Syllogism investigates the key developments in the history of this peculiar pattern of inference, from Avicenna to Hegel. Taking as its focus the longue durée of development between the Middle Ages and the nineteenth century, this book looks at the huge reworking scientific syllogism underwent over the centuries, as some of the finest philosophical minds brought it to an unprecedented height of logical sharpness and sophistication. Bringing together a group of major international experts in the Aristotelian tradition, The Aftermath of Syllogism provides a detailed, up to date and critical evaluation of the history of syllogistic deduction.

Aristotelian Logic

Aristotelian Logic
Author: William Thomas Parry
Publisher: SUNY Press
Total Pages: 560
Release: 1991-01-01
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9780791406892

Proceedings of an international research and development conference, Tuscon, Arizona, October 1985. One hundred and twenty-eight papers are presented in this hefty volume. They are grouped into chapters covering climate, underutilized plants, irrigation and water management, biosphere reserves, water policy, animal resources, desert ecology, crop physiology and agronomy, urban environments, desertification, land intensification, and other topics related to the economy and management of arid lands. Provides detailed treatment of topics in traditional logic: theory of terms, theory of definition, informal fallacies, and division and classification.

Aristotle's Syllogism and the Creation of Modern Logic

Aristotle's Syllogism and the Creation of Modern Logic
Author: Lukas M. Verburgt
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 321
Release: 2023-01-26
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1350228850

Offering a bold new vision on the history of modern logic, Lukas M. Verburgt and Matteo Cosci focus on the lasting impact of Aristotle's syllogism between the 1820s and 1930s. For over two millennia, deductive logic was the syllogism and syllogism was the yardstick of sound human reasoning. During the 19th century, this hegemony fell apart and logicians, including Boole, Frege and Peirce, took deductive logic far beyond its Aristotelian borders. However, contrary to common wisdom, reflections on syllogism were also instrumental to the creation of new logical developments, such as first-order logic and early set theory. This volume presents the period under discussion as one of both tradition and innovation, both continuity and discontinuity. Modern logic broke away from the syllogistic tradition, but without Aristotle's syllogism, modern logic would not have been born. A vital follow up to The Aftermath of Syllogism, this book traces the longue durée history of syllogism from Richard Whately's revival of formal logic in the 1820s through the work of David Hilbert and the Göttingen school up to the 1930s. Bringing together a group of major international experts, it sheds crucial new light on the emergence of modern logic and the roots of analytic philosophy in the 19th and early 20th centuries.