Single Idea 22272

[catalogued under 4. Formal Logic / A. Syllogistic Logic / 1. Aristotelian Logic]

Full Idea

When Aristotle moved from basic name+verb (in 'De Interpretatione') to noun+noun logic...names had to be treated as special cases, so that 'Socrates' is treated as short for 'everything that is Socrates'.

Gist of Idea

Aristotle's later logic had to treat 'Socrates' as 'everything that is Socrates'

Source

comment on Aristotle (On Interpretation [c.330 BCE]) by Michael Potter - The Rise of Analytic Philosophy 1879-1930 02 'Supp'

Book Reference

Potter,Michael: 'The Rise of Anaytic Philosophy 1879-1930' [Routledge 2020], p.12


A Reaction

Just the sort of rewriting that Russell introduced for definite descriptions. 'Twas ever the logicians' fate to shoehorn ordinary speech into awkward containers.