ΑΝΑΛΥΣΙΣ ΠΕΡΙ ΤΑ ΣΧΗΜΑΤΑ. Restoring Aristotle’s Lost Diagrams of the Syllogistic Figures
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Date
2012
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Wydawnictwo Naukowe Instytutu Filozofii UAM
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Abstract
The article examines the relevance of Aristotle’s analysis that concerns the syllogistic figures. On the assumption that Aristotle’s analytics was inspired by the method of geometric analysis, we show how Aristotle used the three terms (letters), when he formulated the three syllogistic figures. So far it has not been appropriately recognized that the three terms — the major, the middle and the minor one — were viewed by Aristotle syntactically and predicatively in the form of diagrams. Many scholars have misunderstood Aristotle in that in the second and third figure the middle term is outside and that in the second figure the major term is next to the middle one, whereas in the third figure it is further from it. By means of diagrams, we have elucidated how this perfectly accords with Aristotle's planar and graphic arrangement.
In the light of these diagrams, one can appropriately capture the definition
of syllogism as a predicative set of terms. Irrespective of the tricky
question concerning the abbreviations that Aristotle himself used with
reference to these types of predication, the reconstructed figures allow
us better to comprehend the reductions of syllogism to the first figure.
We assume that the figures of syllogism are analogous to the figures of
categorical predication, i.e., they are specific syntactic and semantic
models. Aristotle demanded certain logical and methodological competence
within analytics, which reflects his great commitment and contribution
to the field.
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Aristotle, analysis
Citation
Peitho. Examina Antiqua, nr 1(3), 2012, s. 83-114.