Aristotle's De Interpretatione

Aristotle's De Interpretatione : Contradiction and Dialectic

3.88 (8 ratings by Goodreads)
By (author) 
3.88 (8 ratings by Goodreads)

Free delivery worldwide

Available. Expected delivery to the United States in 9-14 business days.


Not ordering to the United States? Click here.

Description

Aristotle's treatise De Interpretatione is one of his central works; it continues to be the focus of much attention and debate. C. W. A. Whitaker presents the first systematic study of this work, and offers a radical new view of its aims, its structure, and its place in Aristotle's system, basing this view upon a detailed chapter-by-chapter analysis.
By treating the work systematically, rather than concentrating on certain selected passages, Whitaker is able to show that, contrary to traditional opinion, it forms an organized and coherent whole. He argues that the De Interpretatione is intended to provide the underpinning for dialectic, the system of argument by question and answer set out in Aristotle's Topics; and he rejects the traditional view that the De Interpretatione concerns the assertion and is oriented
towards the formal logic of the Prior Analytics. In doing so, he sheds valuable new light on some of Aristotle's most famous texts.
show more

Product details

  • Paperback | 256 pages
  • 138 x 216 x 15mm | 301g
  • Clarendon Press
  • Oxford, United Kingdom
  • English
  • 0199254192
  • 9780199254194
  • 1,411,185

Table of contents

Introduction ; 1. Significant Utterances ; 2-3 The Name and Verb ; 4. Phrases and Assertions ; 5. Simple and Compound Assertions ; 6. Contradictory Pairs ; 7. Singular and Universal Assertions ; 8. Hidden Complex Assertions ; 9. Future Singular Assertions ; 10. Assertions and Inferences ; 11. Puzzles concerning Simple and Complex Assertions ; 12. Modal Assertions ; 13. More on Modal Assertions ; 14. Contrary Beliefs ; Conclusion ; Appendices ; Bibliography ; Index
show more

Review quote

beautifully lucid and carefully reasoned ... the conventional wisdom is triumphantly refuted. Whitaker takes us through the de Interpretatione chapter by chapter, displaying it as a sequence of lessons for would-be dialecticians. He casts much new light on the overall structure and purpose of the remarks ... Before reading Whitaker, I too was in thrall to conventional wisdom; after reading Whitaker, things seemed to come into proper focus for the first time.
Whitaker... uses his ingenuity to construct a reading that confronts, rather than evades, the subtleties of Aristotle's discussion, and to give, for the first time that I know of, a plausible account of them. * Nicholas Denyer, Mind *
show more

About C. W. A. Whitaker

C. W. A. Whitaker was formerly a Research Fellow at Peterhouse, Cambridge. This is his first book. He now lives in North Yorkshire.
show more

Rating details

3.88 out of 5 stars
- 8 ratings
5 25% (2)
4 38% (3)
3 38% (3)
2 0% (0)
1 0% (0)
Book ratings by Goodreads
Goodreads is the world's largest site for readers with over 50 million reviews. We're featuring millions of their reader ratings on our book pages to help you find your new favourite book. Close X