If, then, therefore? Neoplatonic Exegetical Logic between the Categorical and the Hypothetical

History of Philosophy & Logical Analysis 24 (1):3-43 (2021)
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Abstract

In late antiquity, logic developed into what Ebbesen calls the LAS, the Late Ancient Standard. This paper discusses the Neoplatonic use of LAS, as informed by epistemological and metaphysical concerns. It demonstrates this through an analysis of the late ancient debate about hypothetical and categorical logic as manifest in the practice of syllogizing Platonic dialogues. After an introduction of the Middle Platonist view on Platonic syllogistic as present in Alcinous, this paper presents an overview of its application in the syllogizing practice of Proclus and others. That overview shows that the two types were considered two sides of the same coin, to be used for the appropriate occasions, and both relying on the methods of dialectic as revealing the structure of knowledge and reality. Pragmatics, dialectic, and didactic choices determine which type or combination is selected in syllogizing Plato. So even though there is no specific Neoplatonic logic, there is a specific Neoplatonic use of LAS.

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Marije Martijn
VU University Amsterdam

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References found in this work

Stoic Syllogistic.Susanne Bobzien - 1996 - Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy 14:133-92.
The Socratic Elenchus.Gregory Vlastos - 1983 - Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy 1:27-58.
Ancient Logic.Susanne Bobzien - 2020 - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Stoic vs. Aristotelian Syllogistic.Michael Frede - 1974 - Archiv für Geschichte der Philosophie 56 (1):1-32.

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