Aristotle's Modal Proofs: Prior Analytics A8-22 in Predicate Logic

✍ Scribed by Adriane Rini (auth.)

• Publisher: Springer Netherlands
• Year: 2011
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 248
• Series: The New Synthese Historical Library 68
• Edition: 1
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Aristotle’s modal syllogistic is his study of patterns of reasoning about necessity and possibility. Many scholars think the modal syllogistic is incoherent, a ‘realm of darkness’. Others think it is coherent, but devise complicated formal modellings to mimic Aristotle’s results. This volume provides a simple interpretation of Aristotle’s modal syllogistic using standard predicate logic. Rini distinguishes between red terms, such as ‘horse’, ‘plant’ or ‘man’, which name things in virtue of features those things must have, and green terms, such as ‘moving’, which name things in virtue of their non-necessary features. By applying this distinction to the Prior Analytics, Rini shows how traditional interpretive puzzles about the modal syllogistic melt away and the simple structure of Aristotle’s own proofs is revealed. The result is an applied logic which provides needed links between Aristotle’s views of science and logical demonstration. The volume is particularly valuable to researchers and students of the history of logic, Aristotle’s theory of modality, and the philosophy of logic in general.

✦ Table of Contents

Front Matter....Pages i-xiii
Front Matter....Pages 9-9
The Non-Modal Syllogistic: An.Pr. A1–7....Pages 11-20
The Assertoric Syllogistic in LPC....Pages 21-31
A Realm of Darkness....Pages 32-38
Technicolour Terms....Pages 39-44
Representing the Modals....Pages 45-60
Front Matter....Pages 61-61
Syllogizing in Red: Trivializing the Modals....Pages 63-71
First Figure Mixed Apodeictic Syllogisms....Pages 72-78
Modal Conversion in the Apodeictic Syllogistic: An.Pr. A9–11....Pages 79-94
Against the Canonical Listings....Pages 95-105
Apodeictic Possibility....Pages 106-115
Front Matter....Pages 117-117
Contingency (A13, A14)....Pages 119-134
Realizing Possibilities....Pages 135-145
Barbara XQM 1 ....Pages 146-156
First Figure X+Q (A15)....Pages 157-168
First Figure L+Q, Q+L (A16)....Pages 169-179
Contingency in the 2nd Figure (A17–19)....Pages 180-193
Contingency in the 3rd Figure (A20–22)....Pages 194-216
Summary and Conclusion....Pages 217-231
Back Matter....Pages 232-246

✦ Subjects

History of Philosophy; Logic; Classical Philosophy