Logic is “the science whose laws are the objects of correct thinking.” (Cassou-Nogues 2009, 77) Sophisticated studies of logic arose in ancient China, India, and Greece. In India, found within the Rigveda is a hymn that contemplates the origins of the universe using language that mirrors the four circles of the Buddhist catuskoti: "A", "not A", "A and not A", and "not A and not not A". (Kak 2004, 15) Gongsun Long, a Chinese philosopher stated the paradox “One and one cannot become two, since neither becomes two.", and along with other members of the School of Names looked at puzzles like "A White Horse is not a Horse" beginning in the fifth century BCE. (Fraser 2009) From the Greek school of thought came Aristotle whose “major achievement … was the founding of the science of logic.” (Kline 1972, 53) His ideas on mathematical nature and the relationships to the physical world were long lasting. (Kline 1972, 51) Aristotelian logic was to be widely accepted in mathematical and scientific thought, remaining “unchallenged until the nineteenth century.” (Kline 1972, 53) Islamic scholars who “expanded the scope and power of Aristotelian logic and assimilated the methods of Greek logic to the language and usages of Arabic learning” made further developments. (Goodman 184, 1992) In Medieval Europe, “new approaches in logic were developed, such as the theory of supposition”. (Bos 2007, 363) It was then “between the 16th and 19th century … a noncreative period in logic” which followed. (Peckhaus 1999, 434) A revival of the subject occurred in the mid-nineteenth century, the beginnings of logic as a formal discipline of study equivalent to rigorous proof in mathematics. At this time, modern symbolic logic appeared and found application in mat...
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Aquinas made an enormous effort to make logic and religion work together, ultimately choosing to drop his logical writing and commit himself to pursuing salvation. Aquinas’s efforts to link logic and his religion parallel today’s continued efforts to force religion into the sciences or to attempt the reverse. But his struggle also acted as a direct view into medieval western Christian culture; the western Christians repeatedly encountered problems in the academic realm with fitting Christianity and higher thinking together which, would occur for far longer than Aquinas’s time. But, if one looks at the struggle in less educated groups it mirrors Aquinas’s except, rather than fitting logic and religion together there is an effort to combine religions or religion and superstition together. Second to Aquinas as an example for religion’s effect was what I discovered whilst researching my presentation topic. I had been under the impression that, as in modern times, the medical focus would be anatomical or chemical. However, as most aspects of medieval culture are, the world of medicine was focused on the spirit. This spiritual focus remained through the middle ages and was catered to by humourism, astrology, and Christianity. While medicine’s focus did indeed limit it in some ways on a physical level, there were still great
According to Maturana, logical contradictions are not serious mistakes because they are supposed to be prompt and plentifully solved. In contrast, emotional contradictions would be really dangerous, because they occur as an opposition between our doing and our desire, generating suffering and immobility. Nevertheless, it seems that he accepts the logical method as a philosophical and argumentative method because he uses logic...
In the history of concepts, there is no concern that Al-Ghazali’s figure emerges as one of the best Western thinkers. Considered as the prominent Sunni theologian that ever lived, Al-Ghazali’s polemic againstNeoplatonic thinkers, mainly Ibn Sina, dealt a fatal rage to philosophy within Islamic world. Written following his period of private study of philosophy, and completed in 1094 CE, Tahafut al-Falasifa carried the purpose of pursuing the analysis of reason that inspired his stint of cynicism, and was attempting to illustrate that reason is not self-reliant in the sphere of metaphysics and is incapable out of itself to construct an absolute world-view. Whereas, as Goldziher (1981) explains, Al-Ghazali uniquely held certain beliefs which he refuted in Tahafut, he wanted to demonstrate that reason on its own cannot establish that the world has the creator, two gods are unfeasible, God is not an entity or a body, and that he understand both himself and others, that the spirit is a self-resilient body. This paper will analyze Al-Ghazali’s argument on the eternity of the world, as found in his first areas of debate with philosophers and evaluated against Ibn Rushd’s answers.
In this essay I will argue that Rosenthal's Higher Order Thought Theory provides a possible account of conscious awareness, in doing so addresses and gets to solve the mind-body problem for that particular mental phenomenon.
First of all, it is important for us to know what logic in itself is. Logic comes from a Greek word “ logike”Firstly it describes the use of valid reason in performing an activity. Secondly it tends to name normative study of what reasoning is.Logic was studied in several civilizations from China to Greece.
In addition, the nature of the universe can be also explained when Aquinas mentions that “the property, that the things signified by the words have themselves also a signification.”
After having explored what truth is in the three areas of knowledge (natural sciences, mathematics and the arts), it can be said that the application of the truth theories differ. It is not the way truth is seen, because truth can simply mean that there is no untrue, and therefore we can concluded that the way truth is developed and used in the areas of knowledge is different.
The question of how and where to draw boundaries around science remains controversial issue till today. Since emergence of modern science in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, many philosophers and thinkers tried to set up clear boundaries or criteria that separated it from other forms of knowledge. However, no consensus on the given issue has emerged up to now. This issue is known as a “demarcation problem” in philosophy and it has always been of the utmost importance to the science itself, since it give a rise to many other problems concerning general status of science in the modern society. For example, if we cannot draw clear line between science and myths, how can we judge about superiority of the former against the latter?
Zeno of Elea was a mathematician who is known for introducing a number of intelligent and original paradoxes. A paradox is a statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth. Zeno was not only a Greek mathematician but also a Greek philosopher and wrote books about the paradoxes that he discovered. His paradoxes continue to stump intelligent people from Aristotle done to people in the present day. Not only did Zeno’s paradoxes contribute to him being considered a mathematician but also his rich background. Little is known about Zeno himself but the information we do know comes from either the manuscript “Parmenides” written by Plato or Aristotle.
Logic affects our lives everyday. We use it both subconsciously and consciously to make decisions which can be as important as our careers, or as insignificant as what to eat for lunch. Logic can also be used in other ways. Ironically, others’ bad logic can result in us learning something just as much as we learn from our own bad decisions. This is shown in Monty Python’s Quest for the Holy Grail.
Medieval philosophy is the synthesis of philosophy and religion, or revelation. In Ibn Tufayl’s Hayy Ibn Yaqzan, Hayy is a perfect example of how reason and revelation are used to determine the ways of the world. While trying to determine if the world was created or eternal, Hayy reasons that he cannot resolve this question. Reason cannot prove that the universe was created or eternal. However, he determines that no matter what the origin of the world, “the world must have a non-corporeal Cause” (Tufayl, 2009, pg. 131). Hayy supports this conclusion by first stating that if the world was created in time, then a creator that is not created must be the Cause. Next, he supports his conclusion by stating if the world is eternal, then the universe must have an infinite force that causes the motion of the universe. Lastly, Hayy supports his conclusion by establishing characteristics of the first Cause that is behind either the creation or infinite motion of the universe. These characteristics include a non-physical body, eternal being, infinite perfection, knowledge, and goodness. In this paper, I will first discuss Hayy’s conclusion of why there must be a first Cause if the world was created. I will then discuss Hayy’s conclusion of why there must be a first Cause if the world is eternal. Lastly, I will discuss Hayy’s conclusion of the characteristics that this first Cause must contain.
Mathematical Logic is something that has a very long history behind it. It has been debated on for many centuries. If someone were to divide mathematical logic into groups they would get two major groups. Both groups are very long. One is called “The history of formal deduction” and it goes all the way back to Aristotle and Euclid and other people who lived at that time. The other is “the history of mathematical analysis” which goes back to the times of Archimedes, who was in the same era as Aristotle and Euclid. These to groups or streams were separate for a long time until Newton invented Calculus, which brought Math and logic together.
Aristotle made basic rules and categories to organize logic and became known as the founder of logic. Before getting down to business, it is important to point out that Aristotle is a synoptic thinker with a theory that ties together all aspects and fields of philosophy. Aristotle does not believe that the purpose of logic is
Overall, the transition or the development between the three stages of philosophy differs by reason and faith. Ancient philosophy focused on faith and reason versus Medieval and Modern philosophy has a separation between reason and faith. The main theme of the development of “Western Philosophy” is faith and reason. In the conclusion of this paper, I already discussed the development of Western philosophy, and the historical standpoint of the how philosophy became what it is