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New page: {{italic title}} {{two other uses|Aristotle's works on logic|other uses|Organon (disambiguation)|a discussion of Aristotelian logic as a system|term logic}} {{Aristotelianism}} The '''''Or...
{{italic title}}
{{two other uses|Aristotle's works on logic|other uses|Organon (disambiguation)|a discussion of Aristotelian logic as a system|term logic}}
{{Aristotelianism}}
The '''''Organon''''' (Greek word meaning "tool") is the name given by [[Aristotle]]'s followers, the [[Peripatetic school|Peripatetic]]s, to the standard collection of his six works on [[logic]]. The works are ''[[Categories (Aristotle)|Categories]]'', ''[[De Interpretatione|On Interpretation]]'', ''[[Prior Analytics]]'', ''[[Posterior Analytics]]'', ''[[Topics (Aristotle)|Topics]]'' and ''[[Sophistical Refutations]]''.
==Constitution of the texts==
The order of the works is not chronological (which is now hard to determine) but was deliberately chosen by [[Theophrastus]] to constitute a well-structured system. Indeed, parts of them seem to be a scheme of a lecture on logic. The arrangement of the works was made by [[Andronicus of Rhodes]] around 40 BC.{{rf|1|Oxford}}
Aristotle's ''Metaphysics'' has some points of overlap with the works making up the ''Organon'' but is not traditionally considered part of it; additionally there are works on logic attributed, with varying degrees of plausibility, to Aristotle that were not known to the Peripatetics.
*[[Categories (Aristotle)|The ''Categories'' (Latin: ''Categoriae'')]] introduces Aristotle's 10-fold classification of that which exists. These categories consist of substance, quantity, quality, relation, place, time, situation, condition, action, and passion.
*[[De Interpretatione|''On Interpretation'' (Latin:''De Interpretatione'', Greek ''Perihermenias'')]] introduces Aristotle's conception of [[proposition]] and [[judgment]], and the various relations between affirmative, negative, universal and particular propositions. It contains Aristotle's principal contribution to philosophy of language. It also discusses the [[Problem of future contingents]].
*[[Prior Analytics|The ''Prior Analytics'' (Latin: ''Analytica Priora'')]] introduces his [[syllogism|syllogistic]] method (see [[term logic]]), argues for its correctness, and discusses inductive inference.
*[[Posterior Analytics|The ''Posterior Analytics'' (Latin: ''Analytica Posteriora'')]] deals with [[Demonstration (teaching)|demonstration]], [[definition]], and [[scientific knowledge]].
*[[Topics (Aristotle)|The ''Topics'' (Latin: ''Topica'')]] treats issues in constructing valid arguments, and inference that is probable, rather than certain. It is in this treatise that Aristotle mentions the [[Predicables]], later discussed by [[Porphyry (philosopher)|Porphyry]] and the scholastic logicians.
*[[On Sophistical Refutations|''Sophistical Refutations'']] (Latin: ''De Sophisticis Elenchis'') gives a treatment of logical fallacies, and provides a key link to Aristotle's work on rhetoric.
== Influence ==
The ''Organon'' was used in the school founded by Aristotle at the [[Lyceum]], and some parts of the works seem to be a scheme of a lecture on logic. So much so that after Aristotle's death, his publishers ([[Andronicus of Rhodes]] in 50 BC, for example) collected these works.
Following the collapse of the [[Western Roman Empire]] in the fifth century, much of Aristotle's work was lost in the Latin West. The ''Categories'' and ''On Interpretation'' are the only significant logical works that were available in the early Middle Ages. These had been translated into [[Latin]] by [[Boethius]]. The other logical works were not available in Western Christendom until translated to Latin in the 12th century. However, the original Greek texts had been preserved in the [[Greek language|Greek]]-speaking lands of the [[Eastern Roman Empire]] (aka [[Byzantium]]). In the mid-twelfth century, [[James of Venice]] translated into Latin the ''Posterior Analytics'' from Greek manuscripts found in Constantinople.
The books of Aristotle were available in the early Arab Empire, and after 750 AD Muslims had most of them, including the ''Organon'', translated into Arabic, sometimes via earlier Syriac translations. They were studied by [[Islamic]] and [[Jewish]] scholars, including Rabbi [[Moses Maimonides]] (1135–1204) and the Muslim Judge [[Ibn Rushd]], known in the West as Averroes (1126–1198); both were originally from [[Cordoba, Spain]], although the former eventually moved to Muslim North Africa.
All the major scholastic philosophers wrote commentaries on the ''Organon''. [[Aquinas]], [[William of Ockham|Ockham]] and [[Scotus]] wrote commentaries on ''On Interpretation''. Ockham and [[Scotus]] wrote commentaries on the ''Categories'' and ''Sophistical Refutations''. [[Grosseteste]] wrote an influential commentary on the ''Posterior Analytics''.
In the [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]] there was a revival of interest in logic as the basis of rational enquiry, and a number of texts, most successfully the [[Port-Royal Logic]], polished Aristotelian term logic for pedagogy. During this period, while the logic certainly was based on that of Aristotle, Aristotle's writings themselves were less often the basis of study. There was a tendency in this period to regard the [[logical system]]s of the day to be complete, which in turn no doubt stifled innovation in this area. However [[Francis Bacon]] published his ''[[Novum Organum]]'' ("The New ''Organon''") as a scathing attack in [[1620 in literature|1620]] <ref>The Teaching Company - Birth of the Modern Mind</ref>. [[Immanuel Kant]] thought that there was nothing else to invent after the work of Aristotle, and a famous logic historian called [[Karl von Prantl]] claimed that any logician who said anything new about logic was "confused, stupid or perverse." These examples illustrate the force of influence which Aristotle's works on logic had. Indeed, he had already become known by the Scholastics (medieval Christian scholars) as "The Philosopher", in large part due to the influence he had upon Aquinas. It was not until the early modern period that Aristotelian logic fell out of favor.
Since the logical innovations of the 19th century, particularly the formulation of modern [[predicate logic]], Aristotelian logic has fallen out of favor among many [[analytic philosophy|analytic philosophers]]. Though predicate logic is predominant in much of analytic philosophy, defenders of Aristotelian logic remain: for example, [[Henry Babcock Veatch|Henry Veatch]].
== Notes ==
{{ent|1|Oxford}} Hammond, p. 64, "Andronicus Rhodus"
==References==
<references />
* {{Citation
| surname1 = Edghill
| given1 = E. M. (translator)
| authorlink = Ella Mary Edghill
| year = 2007
| title = Categories
| publisher = eBooks @ Adelaide
| place = The [[University of Adelaide]]
| url = http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au/a/aristotle/categories/
}}.
* {{Citation
| surname1 = Edghill
| given1 = E. M. (translator)
| authorlink = Ella Mary Edghill
| year = 2007
| title = On Interpretation
| publisher = eBooks @ Adelaide
| place = The [[University of Adelaide]]
| url = http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au/a/aristotle/interpretation/
}}.
* {{Citation
| surname1 = Jenkinson
| given1 = A. J. (translator)
| year = 2007
| title = Prior Analytics
| publisher = eBooks @ Adelaide
| place = The [[University of Adelaide]]
| url = http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au/a/aristotle/a8pra/
}}.
* {{Citation
| surname1 = Mure
| given1 = G. R. G. (translator)
| authorlink = Geoffrey Reginald Gilchrist Mure
| year = 2007
| title = Posterior Analytics
| publisher = eBooks @ Adelaide
| place = The [[University of Adelaide]]
| url = http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au/a/aristotle/a8poa/
}}.
* {{Citation
| surname1 = Pickard-Cambridge
| given1 = W. A. (translator)
| year = 2007
| title = Topics
| publisher = eBooks @ Adelaide
| place = The [[University of Adelaide]]
| url = http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au/a/aristotle/a8t/
}}.
* {{Citation
| surname1 = Pickard-Cambridge
| given1 = W. A. (translator)
| year = 2007
| title = On Sophistical Refutations
| publisher = eBooks @ Adelaide
| place = The [[University of Adelaide]]
| url = http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au/a/aristotle/sophistical/
}}.
*Bocheński, I. M., 1951. ''Ancient Formal Logic''. Amsterdam: North-Holland.
*Couturat, Louis, 1961. ''La Logique de Leibniz''. Hildesheim: Georg Olms Verlagsbuchhandlung.
*Hammond and Scullard, 1992. ''The Oxford Classical Dictionary''. Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-869117-3.
*[[Jan Łukasiewicz]], 1951. ''Aristotle's Syllogistic, from the Standpoint of Modern Formal Logic''. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
*Parry and Hacker, 1991. ''Aristotelian Logic''. Albany: State University of New York Press.
*Parsons, Terence, 1999. '[http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/square/ Traditional Square of Opposition]'. Article at the [[Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy]].
*Rose, Lynn E., 1968. ''Aristotle's Syllogistic''. Springfield, Ill.: Clarence C. Thomas.
*Smith, Robin, 2004. '[http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-logic Aristotle's Logic]'. Article at the [[Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy]].
* Turner, W., 1903. '[http://www.nd.edu/Departments/Maritain/etext/hop.htm History of Philosophy]'. Ginn and Co, Boston. All references in this article are to [http://www.nd.edu/Departments/Maritain/etext/hop11.htm Chapter nine on 'Aristotle'].
* Veatch, Henry B., 1969. ''Two Logics: The Conflict between Classical and Neo-Analytic Philosophy.'' Evanston: Northwestern Univ. Press.
[[Category:Logic]]
[[Category:Logic literature]]
[[Category:Aristotelian logic]]
{{two other uses|Aristotle's works on logic|other uses|Organon (disambiguation)|a discussion of Aristotelian logic as a system|term logic}}
{{Aristotelianism}}
The '''''Organon''''' (Greek word meaning "tool") is the name given by [[Aristotle]]'s followers, the [[Peripatetic school|Peripatetic]]s, to the standard collection of his six works on [[logic]]. The works are ''[[Categories (Aristotle)|Categories]]'', ''[[De Interpretatione|On Interpretation]]'', ''[[Prior Analytics]]'', ''[[Posterior Analytics]]'', ''[[Topics (Aristotle)|Topics]]'' and ''[[Sophistical Refutations]]''.
==Constitution of the texts==
The order of the works is not chronological (which is now hard to determine) but was deliberately chosen by [[Theophrastus]] to constitute a well-structured system. Indeed, parts of them seem to be a scheme of a lecture on logic. The arrangement of the works was made by [[Andronicus of Rhodes]] around 40 BC.{{rf|1|Oxford}}
Aristotle's ''Metaphysics'' has some points of overlap with the works making up the ''Organon'' but is not traditionally considered part of it; additionally there are works on logic attributed, with varying degrees of plausibility, to Aristotle that were not known to the Peripatetics.
*[[Categories (Aristotle)|The ''Categories'' (Latin: ''Categoriae'')]] introduces Aristotle's 10-fold classification of that which exists. These categories consist of substance, quantity, quality, relation, place, time, situation, condition, action, and passion.
*[[De Interpretatione|''On Interpretation'' (Latin:''De Interpretatione'', Greek ''Perihermenias'')]] introduces Aristotle's conception of [[proposition]] and [[judgment]], and the various relations between affirmative, negative, universal and particular propositions. It contains Aristotle's principal contribution to philosophy of language. It also discusses the [[Problem of future contingents]].
*[[Prior Analytics|The ''Prior Analytics'' (Latin: ''Analytica Priora'')]] introduces his [[syllogism|syllogistic]] method (see [[term logic]]), argues for its correctness, and discusses inductive inference.
*[[Posterior Analytics|The ''Posterior Analytics'' (Latin: ''Analytica Posteriora'')]] deals with [[Demonstration (teaching)|demonstration]], [[definition]], and [[scientific knowledge]].
*[[Topics (Aristotle)|The ''Topics'' (Latin: ''Topica'')]] treats issues in constructing valid arguments, and inference that is probable, rather than certain. It is in this treatise that Aristotle mentions the [[Predicables]], later discussed by [[Porphyry (philosopher)|Porphyry]] and the scholastic logicians.
*[[On Sophistical Refutations|''Sophistical Refutations'']] (Latin: ''De Sophisticis Elenchis'') gives a treatment of logical fallacies, and provides a key link to Aristotle's work on rhetoric.
== Influence ==
The ''Organon'' was used in the school founded by Aristotle at the [[Lyceum]], and some parts of the works seem to be a scheme of a lecture on logic. So much so that after Aristotle's death, his publishers ([[Andronicus of Rhodes]] in 50 BC, for example) collected these works.
Following the collapse of the [[Western Roman Empire]] in the fifth century, much of Aristotle's work was lost in the Latin West. The ''Categories'' and ''On Interpretation'' are the only significant logical works that were available in the early Middle Ages. These had been translated into [[Latin]] by [[Boethius]]. The other logical works were not available in Western Christendom until translated to Latin in the 12th century. However, the original Greek texts had been preserved in the [[Greek language|Greek]]-speaking lands of the [[Eastern Roman Empire]] (aka [[Byzantium]]). In the mid-twelfth century, [[James of Venice]] translated into Latin the ''Posterior Analytics'' from Greek manuscripts found in Constantinople.
The books of Aristotle were available in the early Arab Empire, and after 750 AD Muslims had most of them, including the ''Organon'', translated into Arabic, sometimes via earlier Syriac translations. They were studied by [[Islamic]] and [[Jewish]] scholars, including Rabbi [[Moses Maimonides]] (1135–1204) and the Muslim Judge [[Ibn Rushd]], known in the West as Averroes (1126–1198); both were originally from [[Cordoba, Spain]], although the former eventually moved to Muslim North Africa.
All the major scholastic philosophers wrote commentaries on the ''Organon''. [[Aquinas]], [[William of Ockham|Ockham]] and [[Scotus]] wrote commentaries on ''On Interpretation''. Ockham and [[Scotus]] wrote commentaries on the ''Categories'' and ''Sophistical Refutations''. [[Grosseteste]] wrote an influential commentary on the ''Posterior Analytics''.
In the [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]] there was a revival of interest in logic as the basis of rational enquiry, and a number of texts, most successfully the [[Port-Royal Logic]], polished Aristotelian term logic for pedagogy. During this period, while the logic certainly was based on that of Aristotle, Aristotle's writings themselves were less often the basis of study. There was a tendency in this period to regard the [[logical system]]s of the day to be complete, which in turn no doubt stifled innovation in this area. However [[Francis Bacon]] published his ''[[Novum Organum]]'' ("The New ''Organon''") as a scathing attack in [[1620 in literature|1620]] <ref>The Teaching Company - Birth of the Modern Mind</ref>. [[Immanuel Kant]] thought that there was nothing else to invent after the work of Aristotle, and a famous logic historian called [[Karl von Prantl]] claimed that any logician who said anything new about logic was "confused, stupid or perverse." These examples illustrate the force of influence which Aristotle's works on logic had. Indeed, he had already become known by the Scholastics (medieval Christian scholars) as "The Philosopher", in large part due to the influence he had upon Aquinas. It was not until the early modern period that Aristotelian logic fell out of favor.
Since the logical innovations of the 19th century, particularly the formulation of modern [[predicate logic]], Aristotelian logic has fallen out of favor among many [[analytic philosophy|analytic philosophers]]. Though predicate logic is predominant in much of analytic philosophy, defenders of Aristotelian logic remain: for example, [[Henry Babcock Veatch|Henry Veatch]].
== Notes ==
{{ent|1|Oxford}} Hammond, p. 64, "Andronicus Rhodus"
==References==
<references />
* {{Citation
| surname1 = Edghill
| given1 = E. M. (translator)
| authorlink = Ella Mary Edghill
| year = 2007
| title = Categories
| publisher = eBooks @ Adelaide
| place = The [[University of Adelaide]]
| url = http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au/a/aristotle/categories/
}}.
* {{Citation
| surname1 = Edghill
| given1 = E. M. (translator)
| authorlink = Ella Mary Edghill
| year = 2007
| title = On Interpretation
| publisher = eBooks @ Adelaide
| place = The [[University of Adelaide]]
| url = http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au/a/aristotle/interpretation/
}}.
* {{Citation
| surname1 = Jenkinson
| given1 = A. J. (translator)
| year = 2007
| title = Prior Analytics
| publisher = eBooks @ Adelaide
| place = The [[University of Adelaide]]
| url = http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au/a/aristotle/a8pra/
}}.
* {{Citation
| surname1 = Mure
| given1 = G. R. G. (translator)
| authorlink = Geoffrey Reginald Gilchrist Mure
| year = 2007
| title = Posterior Analytics
| publisher = eBooks @ Adelaide
| place = The [[University of Adelaide]]
| url = http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au/a/aristotle/a8poa/
}}.
* {{Citation
| surname1 = Pickard-Cambridge
| given1 = W. A. (translator)
| year = 2007
| title = Topics
| publisher = eBooks @ Adelaide
| place = The [[University of Adelaide]]
| url = http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au/a/aristotle/a8t/
}}.
* {{Citation
| surname1 = Pickard-Cambridge
| given1 = W. A. (translator)
| year = 2007
| title = On Sophistical Refutations
| publisher = eBooks @ Adelaide
| place = The [[University of Adelaide]]
| url = http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au/a/aristotle/sophistical/
}}.
*Bocheński, I. M., 1951. ''Ancient Formal Logic''. Amsterdam: North-Holland.
*Couturat, Louis, 1961. ''La Logique de Leibniz''. Hildesheim: Georg Olms Verlagsbuchhandlung.
*Hammond and Scullard, 1992. ''The Oxford Classical Dictionary''. Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-869117-3.
*[[Jan Łukasiewicz]], 1951. ''Aristotle's Syllogistic, from the Standpoint of Modern Formal Logic''. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
*Parry and Hacker, 1991. ''Aristotelian Logic''. Albany: State University of New York Press.
*Parsons, Terence, 1999. '[http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/square/ Traditional Square of Opposition]'. Article at the [[Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy]].
*Rose, Lynn E., 1968. ''Aristotle's Syllogistic''. Springfield, Ill.: Clarence C. Thomas.
*Smith, Robin, 2004. '[http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-logic Aristotle's Logic]'. Article at the [[Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy]].
* Turner, W., 1903. '[http://www.nd.edu/Departments/Maritain/etext/hop.htm History of Philosophy]'. Ginn and Co, Boston. All references in this article are to [http://www.nd.edu/Departments/Maritain/etext/hop11.htm Chapter nine on 'Aristotle'].
* Veatch, Henry B., 1969. ''Two Logics: The Conflict between Classical and Neo-Analytic Philosophy.'' Evanston: Northwestern Univ. Press.
[[Category:Logic]]
[[Category:Logic literature]]
[[Category:Aristotelian logic]]