Original or Derived Logic? Aristotle's biographers and philosophers generally agreed that Aristotle was the father of logic. But they stopped short of ascribing to him absolute originality as well.9 Unfortunately, the consulted authorities did not produce any highly developed arguments to support their caution. Observe the following guarded propositions: Will Durant wrote, "Almost without predecessors, almost entirely by his own hard thinking, he created a new science--Logic." About Aristotle's new science Durant wrote, "Before Aristotle, …
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showed last 75 words of 784 total
…sole originator of the system of logic ascribed to him, though he did not derive his system from thin air. Aristotle did not form his logic on Plato's logic, but Platonic universals and abstracts may have indirectly contributed to the syllogism. Aristotle's modal syllogism may not have been the first or last word on logic, but his systemization of identity, non-contradiction, and excluded middle were based upon brilliant observations of what is self-evident and undeniable.