Handbook of the History of Logic: - Fordham University Faculty

The Assimilation of Aristotelian and Arabic Logic up to the Later Thirteenth Century 343
also emphasised that there is a tendency in the early commentaries to interpret
Aristotle’s logic in a strongly metaphysical way. This made modal logic very
important and fused logic and science/metaphysics. I also suggest that this way
of understanding Aristotle was at least partly influenced by Arabic thinkers.
The third main aspect of this overview has been an outline of some of the logical
theories present in Latin translations of Arabic logical texts. I spent some time
outlining the logic of Al-Ghazālī and the Aristotelian commentaries of Averroes.
I noted that both these seem to have been influential, but also said that it is
difficult to judge exactly to what extent. Al-Ghazālī’s division of the matter of
the syllogism can be found in several logic texts from the thirteenth century. His
and Avicenna’s view that logic is about intentions in the intellectual soul and hence
a science of reason was also influential. A third aspect is the heavy metaphysical
understanding of Aristotle already mentioned.
Overviews like the present one are difficult to write and there are many things I
have missed and also consciously skipped. I have said nothing about the works on
Insolubilia and Obligationes that began to appear at this time. I have also skipped
the commentary tradition on Aristotle’s Posterior Analytics. Although scholars
of medieval logic have come a long way towards understanding the development
of logic in the thirteenth century there are still lots of things left to do. None
of the hugely influential commentaries on Aristotle by Robert Kilwardby have
been edited, and most of the early commentaries on the logica nova have not
been studied. I hope this overview will work as an inspiration to know more about
thirteenth century logic. It holds lots of riches for anyone interested in Aristotelian
logic and also anyone interested in the philosophy of language and logic in general.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Primary Sources
[Albert the Great, 1890a] Albert the Great, De praedicabilibus, inOpera omnia, ed. A. Borgnet,
vol. I, Paris: Vivés, 1890.
[Albert the Great, 1890b] Albert the Great, Liber I Priorum Analyticorum, inOpera omnia,
ed.A.Borgnet,vol.I,Paris:Vivés, 1890.
[Albert the Great, 1504] Albert the Great, Logica Opera, Venice, 1504.
[Al-Ghazālī, 1506] Al-Ghazālī, Logica et philosophia, Venice, 1506. Reprinted Minerva G.M.B.H:
Frankfurt, 1969.
[Al-Ghazālī, 1965] Al-Ghazālī, Tractatus de logica, ed. C. Lohr in ‘Logica Algazelis: Introduction
and Critical Text’, Traditio 21 (1965): 223-290.
[Aristotle, 1961] Aristotle, Categoriae, ed. L. Minio-Paluello (Aristotelis Latinus I.1-5), Brussels:
Desclée de Brouwer, 1961.
[Aristotle, 1962] Aristotle, Analytica Priora, ed. L. Minio-Paluello (Aristoteles Latinus III.1-4),
Brussels: Desclée de Brouwer, 1962.
[Aristotle, 1965] Aristotle. De interpretatione, eds. L. Minio-Paluello and G. Verbeke (Aristotelis
Latinus II.1-2), Brussels: Desclée de Brouwer, 1965.
[Aristotle, 1969] Aristotle, Topica, ed. L. Minio-Paluello (Aristotelia Latinus V.1-3), Brussels:
Desclée de Brouwer, 1969.
[Aristotle, 1975] Aristotle, De sophisticis elenchis, ed.B.G.Dod(Aristotelis Latinus VI.1-3),
Brussels: Desclée de Brouwer, 1975.