This thesis focusses on the notion of analysis (&vàXuatç) in Stoic logic, that is to say on the procedure which the Stoic logicians followed in order to reduce all valid arguments to five basic patterns. By reconsidering the uses of its Aristotelian homonym and by examining the evidence on the classification of Stoic arguments, I distinguish two methods of Stoic analysis and I discuss their rules: (i) the analysis of non-simple indemonstrables, which constitutes a process of breaking up an argument by means of general logical principles (8 prlpcxta) ; and (ii) the analysis of <syllogistic> arguments, which replaces demonstration (&toösttç) and is effected by employing standard well-determined rules (Oata). The ancient sources provide us with concrete examples illustrating the first type of analysis; however, there is no single text that reports the exact procedure of analysing <syllogistic> arguments. Modern scholars have reconstructed in different ways this type of Stoic analysis; I deal with all of them separately and show that the proposed reconstructions are insightful but historically implausible. Based on the textual materiel concerning the notion of analysis not only in its Stoic context but also in some other of its uses, and especially in mathematical practice, I suggest an alternative reconstruction of the Stoic method of reducing valid arguments to the basic indemonstrables
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:282396 |
| Date | January 1990 |
| Creators | Ierodiakonou, Katerina |
| Publisher | London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London) |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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