Organon
499019
219489461
2008-06-15T13:54:12Z
Arch dude
1763779
/* References */ authorlink
{{two other uses|Aristotle's works on logic|other uses|Organon (disambiguation)|a discussion of Aristotelian logic as a system|term logic}}
The '''Organon''' is the name given by [[Aristotle]]'s followers, the [[Peripatetic]]s, to the standard collection of his six works on [[logic]]. The works are ''[[Categories (Aristotle)|Categories]]'', ''[[Prior Analytics]]'', ''[[De Interpretatione]]'', ''[[Posterior Analytics]]'', ''[[Sophistical Refutations]]'', and ''[[Topics (Aristotle)|Topics]]''.
==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.
*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.
*''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 the futures contingents]].
*The ''Prior Analytics'' (Latin: ''Analytica Priora'') introduces his [[syllogism|syllogistic]] method (see [[term logic]]), argues for its correctness, and discusses inductive inference.
*The ''Posterior Analytics'' (Latin: ''Analytica Posteriora'') deals with [[Demonstration (teaching)|demonstration]], [[definition]], and [[scientific knowledge]].
*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.
*''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 [[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 until translated to Latin in the [[12th century]], although preserved in the [[Greek language|Greek]]-speaking lands of the [[Roman Empire]].
The books of Aristotle were available in the Arab Empire and were studied by [[Islamic]] and [[Jewish]] scholars, including Rabbi [[Moses Maimonides]] ([[1135]]–[[1204]]) and Muslim Judge [[Ibn Rushd]] (1126 - 1198); both lived in [[Cordoba, Spain]]. Cordoba had 70 libraries, one of them with over 40,000 volumes; the two largest libraries in non-Arab Europe each had only 2,000 volumes.
All the major scholastic philosophers wrote commentaries on the Organon. [[Aquinas]], [[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. The dogmatism created by the Scholastics in favor of Aristotle did not disappear until the early modern period.
Since the logical innovations of the 19th century, particularly the formulation of modern [[predicate logic]], Aristotelian logic is mainly studied out of historical interest. There is, however, a mostly pedagogical interest in [[term logic]] deriving from its close structure to the actual forms of reasoning encountered in natural language.
== Notes ==
{{ent|1|Oxford}} Hammond, p. 64, "Andronicus Rhodus"
==References==
<references />
* {{Harvard reference
| 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/
}}.
* {{Harvard reference
| 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/
}}.
* {{Harvard reference
| 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/
}}.
* {{Harvard reference
| Surname1 = Mure
| Given1 = G.R.G. (translator)
| Year = 2007
| Title = Posterior Analytics
| Publisher = eBooks @ Adelaide
| Place = The [[University of Adelaide]]
| URL = http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au/a/aristotle/a8poa/
}}.
* {{Harvard reference
| 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/
}}.
* {{Harvard reference
| 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/
}}.
*I. M. Bocheński, I. M., 1951. ''Ancient Formal Logic''. North-Holland, Amsterdam.
*Louis Couturat, 1961. ''La Logique de Leibniz''. Georg Olms Verlagsbuchhandlung, Hildesheim.
*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''. Clarendon Press, Oxford.
*Parry and Hacker, 1991. ''Aristotelian Logic''. State University of New York Press, Albany.
*Terence Parsons, 1999. '[http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/square/ Traditional Square of Opposition]'. Article at the [[Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy]].
*Lynn E. Rose, 1968. ''Aristotle's Syllogistic''. Clarence C. Thomas, Springfield.
*Robin Smith, 2004. '[http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-logic Aristotle's Logic]'. Article at the [[Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy]].
* W. Turner, 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'].
== External links ==
{{Wikisource}}
* J. Evans, '[http://www.webster.edu/~evansja/guides/aristotle/logic.html A summary of the Organon]'. Class notes.
* [http://www.iep.utm.edu/a/aristotl.htm ''Aristotle'' article] at the [[Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy]].
*[[PlanetMath:5839|Aristotelian Logic]] ([[PlanetMath]]'s entry)
* {{sep entry|aristotle-logic|Aristotle's Logic|Robin Smith}}
[[Category:Works of Aristotle| ]]
[[Category:Cognitive science literature]]
[[Category:History of logic]]
[[de:Organon (Aristoteles)]]
[[es:Organon]]
[[fr:Organon]]
[[hu:Organon]]
[[mk:Органон]]
[[nl:Organon (Aristoteles)]]
[[pl:Organon]]
[[pt:Organon]]
[[sk:Aristotelovská logika]]
[[fi:Organon]]
[[zh:工具論]]