Logic/ Aristotle

Is Aristotle the father of Logic

Aristotle is truly considered as the father of Logic because of his great and extensive contributions to Logic . During his years with Plato Aristotle reflected the older philosopher 's views . After Plato 's death Aristotle began to develop his own ideas more fully . Practical and empirical (Lear , 2003 , he was less concerned with abstractions than with his environment

In addition , Aristotle is called the father of logic because he was the first philosopher to study the subject scientifically . In his Organon (abut 350 B .C ) he

analyzed knowledge , classified the types of reasoning , and related them to each other (Ackrill , 2001 . He invented the syllogism , the keystone of his deductive logic , to present philosophical arguments in logical form . Aristotle believed that all scientific reasoning must start with general , or universal , principles abs then proceed to the particular case under investigation . This is deductive reasoning

The syllogism consists three parts : a major premise , a minor premise and a conclusion . For example

France is part of Europe (major premise

The city of Paris is a part of France (minor premise

Paris is a part of Europe (conclusion

This syllogism illustrates the main features of deductive logic . If the major and minor premises are true , then the conclusion must also be true . If either premise if false , then the conclusion is also false . For example

France is part of Asia (false

The city of Paris is part of France (true

Paris is part of Asia (false

Logicians using the deductive method are very careful to work from premises that are generally believed to be true , based on observation and experience . In this way only can they avoid reaching false conclusions (Copi , 2006

Aristotle felt that in every science there are self-evident truths that can be used as starting points for syllogistic deduction

Other Aristotle 's major surviving works , which appear to be basically notes for lectures cover the following s

Metaphysics . According to Aristotle , reality consists of individual objects . Each thing has two aspects : matter (what is made of ) and form (the shape it takes . A thing 's form is determined by its use or purpose , and full knowledge of a thing must include knowledge of its purpose . All objects are related to each other in a hierarchy of purposes each thing is both the fulfillment of the purpose of some other thing and the starting point of someone else (Adler , 2004 (An apple tree , for instance , is the fulfillment of its seed and also the starting point of its fruit

Natural Science . To Aristotle , nature included all things capable of changing by themselves . Each living thing , according to him , has a soul or psyche , which is its form and directs its change . Man and all other animals experience thing as sources of either attraction or repulsion

Aristotle compiled a wealth of information about plants and about the anatomy and behavior of animals . His studies and classifications were accepted as infallible for nearly 2 ,000 years . However...