‘ΠΡΟΤΑΣΙΣ’ in Aristotle’s Prior Analytics

Phronesis 56 (3):193 - 203 (2011)
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Abstract

It has often been claimed that (i) Aristotle's expression 'protasis' means 'premiss' in syllogistic contexts and (ii) cannot refer to the conclusion of a syllogism in the Prior Analytics. In this essay we produce and defend a counter-example to these two claims. We argue that (i) the basic meaning of the expression is 'proposition' and (ii) while it is often used to refer to the premisses of a syllogism, in Prior Analytics 1.29, 45b4-8 it is used to refer to the conclusion of a syllogism. In our view, the best explanation of Aristotle's use of the expression 'protasis' is that it means proposition throughout but is frequently used without change of meaning (in certain specific contexts) to refer to the premisses from which a conclusion follows. In Prior Analytics 1.29, 45b4-8 he uses 'protasis' to refer to the conclusion when he needs a single expression to refer to both the conclusion and one of the premisses of the syllogism that constitutes the core of a syllogism through the impossible. If we are correct, we have shown that the view that the expression 'the final protasis' in EN 7.3, 1147b9ff must mean 'the final premiss' and so cannot refer to the conclusion of the relevant syllogism is mistaken

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Paolo Crivelli
University of Geneva

Citations of this work

Akrasia and conflict in the Nicomachean Ethics.Mehmet Metin Erginel - 2016 - British Journal for the History of Philosophy 24 (4):573-593.
Colloquium 2: An Aristotelian Distinction Between Two Types of Knowledge.Benjamin Morison - 2012 - Proceedings of the Boston Area Colloquium of Ancient Philosophy 27 (1):29-63.
Protasis and Apophansis in Aristotle’s Logic.Murat Keli̇kli̇ - 2018 - Beytulhikme An International Journal of Philosophy 8 (1):1-17.

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References found in this work

Aristotle's Prior and Posterior Analytics.W. D. Ross - 1949 - Philosophy 25 (95):380-382.
Aristotle's ethics.David Bostock - 2000 - New York: Oxford University Press.
Aristotle.Jonathan Barnes - 1975 - In Richard Mervyn Hare, Jonathan Barnes & Henry Chadwick (eds.), Founders of Thought. Oxford University Press.
Aristotle’s Philosophy of Action.David Charles - 1984 - Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press.
Aristotle's Prior and Posterior Analytics.W. D. Ross - 1953 - British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 3 (12):374-375.

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