Aristotelous Organon = Aristotelis Stagiritae peripateticorvm principis Organum : hoc est, libri omnes ad logicam pertinentes, Græcè & Latiné / Ivl. Pacivs recensuit, atque ex libris cùm manuscriptis tum editis emendauit, è Græca in Latinam linguam conuertit: capitum, & particularum distinctionibus, argumentísque ... necno[n] perpetuis notis, & tabulis synopticis illustrauit.
Let's examine one of the most important works of classical antiquity: Organon, by Aristotle. This work brings together the books of logic written by the great Greek philosopher. Organon is divided into five parts, each of which deals with problems related to logic and reasoning.
Aristotle, the Polymath
Aristotle (384-322 BCE) was a great Greek philosopher, one of the most important of antiquity. Aristotle was called a polymath, which is a scholar of various fields and subjects. He dealt with logic, physics, medicine, art, aesthetics, theology, etc. He wrote numerous treatises. In this lesson, we are going to look at Organon, that is, the works that deal with logic. They are very important works, since Aristotle is considered the founder of the logic.
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Logic
Logic is the science that deals with reasoning and how to arrive at valid conclusions and deductions. Aristotle wrote several books on logic that are grouped together in Organon. These are some of Aristotle's most complex works.
Organon, in Greek, means ''instrument'' or ''tool.'' It is so titled because logic is an instrument that helps develop other sciences. Whether physics, aesthetics, medicine, or astronomy, all sciences, in order to develop, need the instrument of logic, rational and rigorous thinking. Organon is divided into six works dealing with various topics: Categories, On Interpretation, Prior Analytics, Posterior Analytics, Topics, and Sophistical Refutations.
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Categories
In this work, Aristotle classifies all the things that exist into ten great groups: substance, quantity, quality, relation, place, time, situation, condition, action, and passion.
This first work is very long and complex. To define all that exists, Aristotle uses various terms for which he gives a definition. Let's look at some of the most important.
In the first chapter, the philosopher defines the homonyms: equal words, different meanings (like ''current,'' which can mean ''up to date'' or ''flow of water''); Synonyms: different word, meaning equal (like ''attractive,'' ''pretty,'' or ''beautiful''); and Paronyms: words that derive from the same root (such as ''children'' and ''childish'').
Later, in the successive chapters, Aristotle studies the diverse relations that occur between the subject and the predicate.
The work ends with a study of opposites, the former, the simultaneous, and the movement.
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On Interpretation
This second work is the continuation of the first and contains numerous notions that belong to the philosophy of language.
Aristotle analyzes various grammatical categories, such as the name, the verb, and the prepositions as well as the relationships that are established between them.
In this book, he deals with the problem of future contingents. The future contingent is a future that could be realized if given certain circumstances, but that remains in an area of possibility, not necessarily fulfilled. Aristotle formulates the famous paradox of the sea-battle.
Imagine a statement, such as ''tomorrow a sea-battle will take place.'' All statements must be either true or false. Then, if there will be a sea battle tomorrow, the phrase is true today, but at the same time, the very wording of the phrase forces a battle. If the phrase will be false tomorrow it is also false today, so it prevents a naval battle.
This seems to go against our idea of free choice, since it seems that things are determined from the moment we pronounce the sentences. In fact, Aristotle tells us that the future will depend on the decisions we make today, so from these decisions will depend the truth or the falsity of the sentence that, at the moment of being pronounced, is neither true nor false.
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The Prior Analytics
This book introduces a key element in Aristotelian logic: syllogisms. Syllogisms are arguments used by Aristotle to reason and deduce principles and ideas. After Aristotle, they were used by all medieval philosophers and were a fundamental part of philosophy until very recent times.
The basic syllogism consists of at least three sentences: two premises from which a conclusion is drawn. A typical example of syllogism might be as follows: Premise One (universal premise): ''All cats are mammals.'' Premise Two (particular premise): ''This animal is a cat.'' Conclusion: ''This animal is mammal.''
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The Posterior Analytics
In this book, Aristotle continues to develop his theory on syllogisms in more detail. It deals with scientific thinking and points out that we only have scientific knowledge of a phenomenon when we know its cause. He also defines the deductive method and the inductive method.
The deductive method is based on applying a general rule to a particular case. For example, if all metals are malleable, and gold is a metal, gold will be malleable.
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