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The history of logic deals with the study of the development of the science of valid inference ( logic ). Formal logics developed in ancient times in India, China, and Greece.
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- Precursors of ancient logic
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history of logic, the history of the discipline from its origins among the ancient Greeks to the present time.
There was a medieval tradition according to which the Greek philosopher Parmenides (5th century bce) invented logic while living on a rock in Egypt. The story is pure legend, but it does reflect the fact that Parmenides was the first philosopher to use an extended argument for his views rather than merely proposing a vision of reality. But using arguments is not the same as studying them, and Parmenides never systematically formulated or studied principles of argumentation in their own right. Indeed, there is no evidence that he was even aware of the implicit rules of inference used in presenting his doctrine.
Perhaps Parmenides’ use of argument was inspired by the practice of early Greek mathematics among the Pythagoreans. Thus, it is significant that Parmenides is reported to have had a Pythagorean teacher. But the history of Pythagoreanism in this early period is shrouded in mystery, and it is hard to separate fact from legend.
If Parmenides was not aware of general rules underlying his arguments, the same perhaps is not true for his disciple Zeno of Elea (5th century bce). Zeno was the author of many arguments, known collectively as “Zeno’s Paradoxes,” purporting to infer impossible consequences from a non-Parmenidean view of things and so to refute such a view and indirectly to establish Parmenides’ monist position. The logical strategy of establishing a claim by showing that its opposite leads to absurd consequences is known as reductio ad absurdum. The fact that Zeno’s arguments were all of this form suggests that he recognized and reflected on the general pattern.
Other authors too contributed to a growing Greek interest in inference and proof. Early rhetoricians and Sophists—e.g., Gorgias, Hippias, Prodicus, and Protagoras (all 5th century bce)—cultivated the art of defending or attacking a thesis by means of argument. This concern for the techniques of argument on occasion merely led to verbal displays of debating skills, what Plato called “eristic.” But it is also true that the Sophists were instrumental in bringing argumentation to the central position it came uniquely to hold in Greek thought. The Sophists were, for example, among the first people anywhere to demand that moral claims be justified by reasons.
Certain particular teachings of the Sophists and rhetoricians are significant for the early history of logic. For example, Protagoras is reported to have been the first to distinguish different kinds of sentences: questions, answers, prayers, and injunctions. Prodicus appears to have maintained that no two words can mean exactly the same thing. Accordingly, he devoted much attention to carefully distinguishing and defining the meanings of apparent synonyms, including many ethical terms.
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Learn how logic originated and developed from ancient Greece to the present time. Explore the contributions of Parmenides, Zeno, Plato, Aristotle, and other philosophers to the discipline of logic.
Dec 13, 2006 · Aristotle is the first great logician in the history of logic. His logic was taught by and large without rival from the 4 th to the 19 th centuries CE.
Logic was developed independently in several cultures during antiquity. One major early contributor was Aristotle, who developed term logic in his Organon and Prior Analytics. He was responsible for the introduction of the hypothetical syllogism and temporal modal logic.
The history of logic documents the development of logic as it occurs in various cultures and traditions in history. While many cultures have employed intricate systems of reasoning, logic as an explicit analysis of the methods of reasoning received sustained development originally only in three traditions: China, India and Greece.
Apr 30, 2024 · History of Logic: an annotated guide with selected bibliographies and a focus on the relationship with logic and ontology
History of logic - Symbolic, Mathematical, Philosophical: It is customary to speak of logic since the Renaissance as “modern logic.” This is not to suggest that there was a smooth development of a unified conception of reasoning, or that the logic of this period is “modern” in the usual sense.
