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The ''Posterior Analytics'' ( grc-gre, Ἀναλυτικὰ Ὕστερα; la, Analytica Posteriora) is a text from
Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of phil ...
's ''
Organon The ''Organon'' ( grc, Ὄργανον, meaning "instrument, tool, organ") is the standard collection of Aristotle's six works on logical analysis and dialectic. The name ''Organon'' was given by Aristotle's followers, the Peripatetics. The si ...
'' that deals with demonstration,
definition A definition is a statement of the meaning of a term (a word, phrase, or other set of symbols). Definitions can be classified into two large categories: intensional definitions (which try to give the sense of a term), and extensional definitio ...
, and
scientific knowledge Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...
. The demonstration is distinguished as ''a
syllogism A syllogism ( grc-gre, συλλογισμός, ''syllogismos'', 'conclusion, inference') is a kind of logical argument that applies deductive reasoning to arrive at a conclusion based on two propositions that are asserted or assumed to be true. ...
productive of scientific knowledge'', while the definition marked as ''the statement of a thing's nature, ... a statement of the meaning of the name, or of an equivalent nominal formula''.


Content

In the ''
Prior Analytics The ''Prior Analytics'' ( grc-gre, Ἀναλυτικὰ Πρότερα; la, Analytica Priora) is a work by Aristotle on reasoning, known as his syllogistic, composed around 350 BCE. Being one of the six extant Aristotelian writings on logic ...
'', syllogistic logic is considered in its formal aspect; in the ''Posterior'' it is considered in respect of its matter. The "form" of a syllogism lies in the necessary connection between the premises and the conclusion. Even where there is no fault in the form, there may be in the matter, i.e. the propositions of which it is composed, which may be true or false, probable or improbable. When the premises are certain, true, and primary, and the conclusion formally follows from them, this is demonstration, and produces scientific knowledge of a thing. Such syllogisms are called ''apodeictical'', and are dealt with in the two books of the ''Posterior Analytics''. When the premises are not certain, such a syllogism is called ''dialectical'', and these are dealt with in the eight books of the '' Topics''. A syllogism which seems to be perfect both in matter and form, but which is not, is called ''sophistical'', and these are dealt with in the book ''
On Sophistical Refutations ''Sophistical Refutations'' ( el, Σοφιστικοὶ Ἔλεγχοι, Sophistikoi Elenchoi; la, De Sophisticis Elenchis) is a text in Aristotle's ''Organon'' in which he identified thirteen fallacies.Sometimes listed as twelve. According to A ...
''. The contents of the ''Posterior Analytics'' may be summarised as follows: * All demonstration must be founded on principles already known. The principles on which it is founded must either themselves be demonstrable, or be so-called
first principles In philosophy and science, a first principle is a basic proposition or assumption that cannot be deduced from any other proposition or assumption. First principles in philosophy are from First Cause attitudes and taught by Aristotelians, and nua ...
, which cannot be demonstrated, nor need to be, being evident in themselves ("nota per se"). * We cannot demonstrate things in a circular way, supporting the conclusion by the premises, and the premises by the conclusion. Nor can there be an infinite number of middle terms between the first principle and the conclusion. * In all demonstration, the first principles, the conclusion, and all the intermediate propositions, must be necessary, general and eternal truths. Of things that happen by chance, or contingently, or which can change, or of individual things, there is no demonstration. * Some demonstrations prove only that the things are a certain way, rather than why they are so. The latter are the most perfect. * The first figure of the syllogism (see
term logic In philosophy, term logic, also known as traditional logic, syllogistic logic or Aristotelian logic, is a loose name for an approach to formal logic that began with Aristotle and was developed further in ancient history mostly by his followers, th ...
for an outline of syllogistic theory) is best adapted to demonstration, because it affords conclusions universally affirmative. This figure is commonly used by mathematicians. * The demonstration of an affirmative proposition is preferable to that of a negative; the demonstration of a universal to that of a particular; and direct demonstration to a ''
reductio ad absurdum In logic, (Latin for "reduction to absurdity"), also known as (Latin for "argument to absurdity") or ''apagogical arguments'', is the form of argument that attempts to establish a claim by showing that the opposite scenario would lead to absu ...
''. * The principles are more certain than the conclusion. * There cannot be both opinion and knowledge of the same thing at the same time. The second book Aristotle starts with a remarkable statement, the kinds of things determine the kinds of questions, which are four: # Whether the relation of a property (attribute) with a thing is a true fact (τὸ ὅτι). # What is the reason of this connection (τὸ διότι). # Whether a thing exists (εἰ ἔστι). # What is the nature and meaning of the thing (τί ἐστιν). Or in a more literal translation (Owen): 1. ''that'' a thing is, 2. ''why'' it is, 3. ''if'' it is, 4. ''what'' it is. The last of these questions was called by Aristotle, in
Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
, the "what it is" of a thing. Scholastic logicians translated this into
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
as "
quiddity In scholastic philosophy, "quiddity" (; Latin: ''quidditas'') was another term for the essence of an object, literally its "whatness" or "what it is". Etymology The term "quiddity" derives from the Latin word ''quidditas'', which was used by the ...
" (''quidditas''). This quiddity cannot be demonstrated, but must be fixed by a definition. He deals with
definition A definition is a statement of the meaning of a term (a word, phrase, or other set of symbols). Definitions can be classified into two large categories: intensional definitions (which try to give the sense of a term), and extensional definitio ...
, and how a correct definition should be made. As an example, he gives a definition of the number three, defining it to be the first odd prime number. Maintaining that "to know a thing's nature is to know the reason why it is" and "we possess scientific knowledge of a thing only when we know its cause", Aristotle posited four major sorts of cause as the most sought-after middle terms of demonstration: the definable form; an antecedent which necessitates a consequent; the efficient cause; the final cause. He concludes the book with the way the human mind comes to know the basic truths or primary premises or first principles, which are not innate, because people may be ignorant of them for much of their lives. Nor can they be deduced from any previous knowledge, or they would not be first principles. He states that first principles are derived by induction, from the sense-perception implanting the true universals in the human mind. From this idea comes the scholastic maxim "there is nothing in the understanding which was not prior in the senses". Of all types of thinking, scientific knowing and intuition are considered as only universally true, where the latter is the originative source of scientific knowledge.


References

* Aristotle, ''Analytica Priora et Posteriora''. Ed. Ross and Minio-Paluello. Oxford University Press, 1981. ISBN 9780198145622. Greek text. * Aristotle, ''Posterior Analytics; Topica''. Greek text with translation by Hugh Tredennick, E. S. Forster. Loeb Classical Library 391. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1960. * .


External links


''Ἀναλυτικὰ ὕστερα''
at Bibliotheca Augustana *

', trans. by Mure, G. R. G. at Logic Museum
''Posterior Analytics''
trans. by Octavius Freire Owen
Public domain audiobook version of ''Posterior Analytics''
trans. by Octavius Freire Owen *
Text of ''Posterior Analytics''
(in html, epub or mobi format) as translated by G. R. G. Mure {{Authority control Logic literature Works by Aristotle