Posterior Analytics II.19: Introduction, Greek Text, Translation and Commentary Accompanied by a Critical Analysis 9782763780818

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ARISTOTLE POSTERIOR ANALYTICS

H.19

Intro(luctioJn, Greek Text, Translation and LOmllrleJ1ltal"Y Accompanied by a Critical Analysis

ARISTOTLE POSTERIOR ANALYTICS 11.19 Introduction, Greek Text, Translation and Commentary Accompanied by a Critical Analysis

by Paolo C. Biondi

Les Presses de l'Universite Laval

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface

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Introduction

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Note on the Translation.

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POSTERIOR ANALYTICS 11.19 COMMENTARY .. .

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Note o n the Critical Analysis CHAPTER

XI

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Greek Text and Translation.

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14

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21

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67

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. . . . . . . 69 The Syllogism . ,. . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . 70 1. 2. Science: Demonstration and Demonstrative Science . . . . . . . 80 1.3. Principles of Science . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . .. '" . " . . . . , . . . . . . . 89 1.3. 1. The Necessity of Absolutely Indemonstrable Propositions . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . 89 1.3.2. The Properties of the Principle of Science . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . 91 1.3.3. The Types of Principles of Science . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . ... 101 1.4. The Place of Nous in Human Thinking .. . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . .. . . . ... 107

Aristotelian Logic and Science... 1. 1.

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CHAPTER

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From Sensation to 2. 1. 2.2.

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Sense : An Innate Critical Capacity . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . .. . . . ... Sensible Obj ects . '" . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . .. . . , ... ..

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2. 3. The Act of Sensation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . .. . . . .. . 2.4. Internal Senses ........ ........... ........... ........... ........... ...... 2.4. 1. The Common Sense . . . . . . ........... ........... ........... ...... 2.4. 2. Estimative Sense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 2.4. 3. Imagination . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . 2.4.4. Memory . . . . . . . . . ........... ........... ........... ........... ...... 2 .5 . Experience 2 .5 . 1 . The Culmination of Sense Cognition . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 .5 2. . Human Experience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . ..

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131 14 2 144 1 53 1 57 1 66 1 73 1 73 1 76

CHAPTER 3

. .. General View of Induction . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . .. . Induction of Immediate Propositions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . Enumeration of All Cases . . . ........... ........... ........... ...... Induction of Concept-terms .... ........... ........... ........... ...... Induction in II. 1 9 . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . .. . . . .. . Induction and Nous... ........... ........... ........... ........... ......

Induction of the Principles of Science......

3.1. 3. 2. 3. 3. 3.4. 3.5. 3. 6.

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191 1 92 1 95 202 208 2 11 216

CHAPTER 4

Nous as Human Intuition.......... ........... ........... ........... '" ... 227 4. 1. Meanings of Nous in the Corpus Aristotelicum... .......... ...... 228 4. 2. The Act of Noesis..... ........... ........... ........... ........... ...... 233 .

4. 2. 1. Immediate . . . . . . . ........... ........... ........... ........... ...... 4. 2. 2. Instantaneous ... ........... ........... ........... ........... ...... 4. 3. The Noetic Object: The Indivisible ..... ........... ........... ...... 4.4. Noesis as Sight and Touch . . . 4. 5. Implications for the Epistemic Context of II. 1 9... ........... ...... 4. 6. Conclusion: A Definition of Human Intuition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .

234 237 24 0 24 7 250 2 57

Appendix: The Causality of the Act of Noesis

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Bibliography....

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General Index

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Index Locorum

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PREFACE

Part of the present work is a revised version of a doctoral dissertation defended at Laval University in 1 999. On the suggestion of Prof. Jean­ Marc Narbonne, the Greek text of Posterior Analytics 1 1 . 1 9 along with a translation of it have been added to the revised original work, which has now been separated into a commentary on the translation and a critical analysis of the philosophical content found in the text. Aristotle' s Posterior (or Second) Analytics is one of the most difficult treatises to understand. This may explain the relatively few com­ mentaries that have been made on it throughout the long h istory of Aristotelian commentary. B ook II, chapter 1 9 of this treatise is, however, an exception in that it is often cited and examined in scholarly works on Aristotle ' s philosophy. Its significance lies in the fact that it provides A ri stotl e ' s answer in concise form to the philosophically intriguing and important question of the origin of human knowledge. It implicitly betrays the Stagirite' s dissatisfaction with Plato ' s proposal that our knowledge, acquired from our soul' s previous existence in the realm of Ideas or Forms, is already within us and need only be remembered and recalled by us in this life . Aristotle, the doctor and biologist, preferred a realistic developmental view: human beings are born merely with a capacity to know (a tabula rasa), and by exercising that capacity, they acquire knowledge which progressively becomes more intel lectual and scientific as it passes through different stages of cognitive complexity. In writing this work, I consulted as many of the commentaries written on the text as possible. It is my hope that the reader will gain an appreciation of the different ways in which Aristotelian scholars of different historical periods interpreted key passages and concepts in Posterior Analytics II. 1 9. Some of the extensive secondary literature on

various key notions was also examined, and I hope that the present state of research, the problems and proposed solutions of my contemporaries, wil l be made sufficiently clear. To that end, well aware of the pre­ cariousness of the enterprise, I offer some original p aths of interpretation and further research in Aristotelian scholarship. Despite the obvious Aristotelian character of the enterprise, I invite those interested in cognitive psychology in general to examine the critical analysis. The content and order of presentation of this section, although expressed in Aristotelian language, provide a general view of the cognitive apparatus belonging to humans, showing how its various parts can form a unified, functioning whole in providing knowledge of the world around us. In this light, this section is intended to attain the universal philosophical goal of seeking understanding of the topic of human knowledge, not just of a particular philosopher' s thoughts and words . Scholars throughout the ages have always recognized this as the most valuable contribution of Posterior Analytics I I. 1 9, hence the perennial interest in this text. Although the act of writing is a solitary affair, the final realization of a book always depends on the generous assistance of m any others. I would like to thank especially Prof. Jean-Marc Narbonne of Laval University for his encouragement and for offering to publish this work as part of his prestigious Collection Zetesis. Prof. Thomas De Koninck and Prof. Robert Plante of Laval University as well as Prof. Franco Volpi of the University of Padua' s Institute of Philosophy are to b e thanked for their valuable s uggestions . I a l s o want to thank the anonymous peer reviewers for the helpful comments made on the manuscript draft, my colleagues and the support staff at the University of S udbury for their help, as wel l as Deborah Jongsma and Lis a LaFramboise for correcting the English. There are too many others to mention by name, but they are hereby acknowledged. My warmest thanks go to my family. UNIVERSITY OF SUDBURY July 2 003

P.C.B.

This book has been published with the help of a grant from the Canadian F ederation for the Humanities and Social S ciences, using funds pro­ vided by the S ocial S ciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

INTRODUCTION

Several years ago, the following passage from Aristotle' s Physics struck me : That nature exists, it woul d be absurd to try to prove; for it i s obvious that there are many things of t h i s kind, a n d to prove what is obvious by what is not is the mark of a man who is incapable of d iscriminating what i s self-evident from what is not. (That thi s may occur i s not unclear. A man b l i nd from birth might discourse or reason about colours. Presumably, therefore, such persons must be talking about words without any thought to correspond.)l

I could not help but wonder then exactly what it means to discourse or reason without thought. It became clear to me, in studying Aristotelian logic as a graduate student, that the examination of the syllogism was an examination of the movement of thought. It would have been a surprise to me at least - to learn that there could be a kind of syllogistic 1 "to