Aristotle's logic: basic principles

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:43

The word "logic" comes from the Greek logos, which means "word", "speech", "concept", "thought" and "judgment". This concept is often used in different meanings, such as the process of rationality, analyticity, etc. Aristotle systematized knowledge about this and singled it out as a separate science. It studies the forms of correct thinking and its laws. Aristotle's logic is the main tool of the human mind, which gives a true idea of reality, and his laws belong to the main rules of reasonable statements and have not lost their significance to this day.

The main forms of thinking in Aristotle's logic include judgment, concept and inference. A concept is a simple initial connection of thoughts, reflecting the main properties and features of objects. Judgment implies the denial or affirmation of the connection between the criteria and the object itself. Inference is understood as the most complex mental form, which is formed on the basis of conclusions and analysis.

Aristotle's logic is designed to teach how to use concepts and analytics correctly, and for this both of these forms must befair. This factor provides a definition for a concept, and a proof for a judgment. Thus, the ancient Greek philosopher considered definition and proof as the main issues of his science.

Theoretical foundations, the subject of discipline, which Aristotle himself outlined, were laid in the scientist's treatises. Logic for him was an expression of his own philosophical position. He also formulated logical laws: identities, non-contradictions, and the excluded middle. The first says that any thought during reasoning should remain identical to itself to the end, that is, the content of the idea should not change in the process. The second law of non-contradiction is that several opposing opinions do not have to be true at the same time, one of them must necessarily be false. The rule of the excluded middle contains the concept that dual judgments cannot be wrong at the same time, one of them is always true.

Besides, Aristotle's logic consisted of methods of transferring acquired knowledge. Its principle is that the particular follows from the general, and this is inherent in the nature of things. However, at the same time, the human mind also has the opposite idea that a holistic knowledge can only be achieved by knowing its parts.

It is important to note that Aristotle's teaching had a materialistic and dialectical view of the relationship between language and thinking. Unlike Plato, who spoke of reflection without sensory impressions and words, Aristotlebelieved that it was impossible to think without sensations. For him, feelings had the same role as the mind, because for contact with reality, the intellect needs touch, it, like a blank sheet, does not have innate concepts, but fixes them through perception. According to the philosopher, it is in this way that cognition begins, and by the method of timely abstraction and determination of common features, the mind comes to the conclusion of concepts.