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11 - Terminist logic

from II - Logic and language

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 May 2011

Robert Pasnau
By
E. Ashworth
Robert Pasnau
Affiliation:
University of Colorado Boulder
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Summary

Terminist logic is a specifically medieval development. It is named from its focus on terms as the basic unit of logical analysis, and so it includes both supposition theory, together with its ramifications, and the treatment of syncategorematic terms. It also includes other areas of investigation not directly linked with Aristotelian texts, notably obligations, consequences, and insolubles (see Chapters 10, 13, and 14).

Logic was at the heart of the arts curriculum, for it provided the techniques of analysis and much of the vocabulary found in philosophical, scientific, and theological writing. Moreover, it trained students for participation in the disputations that were a central feature of medieval instruction, and whose structure, with arguments for and against a thesis, followed by a resolution, is reflected in many written works. This practical application affected the way in which logic developed. While medieval thinkers had a clear idea of argumentation as involving formal structures, they were not interested in the development of formal systems, and they did not see logic as in any way akin to mathematics. Logic involved the study of natural language, albeit a natural language (Latin) that was often regimented to make formal points, and it had a straightforwardly cognitive orientation. The purpose of logic was to separate the true from the false by means of argument, and to lead from known premises to a previously unknown conclusion. In this process, the avoidance of error was crucial, so there was a heavy emphasis on the making of distinctions and on the detection of fallacies.

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The Cambridge History of Medieval Philosophy , pp. 146 - 158
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2009

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  • Terminist logic
  • Robert Pasnau, University of Colorado Boulder
  • Book: The Cambridge History of Medieval Philosophy
  • Online publication: 28 May 2011
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CHOL9780521762168.013
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  • Terminist logic
  • Robert Pasnau, University of Colorado Boulder
  • Book: The Cambridge History of Medieval Philosophy
  • Online publication: 28 May 2011
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CHOL9780521762168.013
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Terminist logic
  • Robert Pasnau, University of Colorado Boulder
  • Book: The Cambridge History of Medieval Philosophy
  • Online publication: 28 May 2011
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CHOL9780521762168.013
Available formats
×