Work · Philosophy in the Islamic World
Introduction to Logic (Isagoge)
Short introduction to logic, named after Porphyry’s Isagoge: the five universals, definition, propositions, syllogism and the kinds of argument in a few pages; it became the first logic text of madrasa students for centuries, was commented on many times and appeared in a Latin translation in 1625.
Introduction
Athir al-Din al-Abhari’s “Introduction” (Īsāghūjī) is a short Arabic primer of logic from the thirteenth century; its title recalls Porphyry’s Isagoge, the classic introduction to Aristotle’s Categories, but it covers far more – the five universals, definition and description, propositions and their relations, the syllogism and the kinds of argument – in a few pages. Because it was so compact, it became for centuries the first logic text that students read in the madrasas of the Ottoman lands, Iran and India, often learned by heart and explained in a long series of commentaries. A Latin version appeared in 1625. The work shows how Ibn Sina’s logic, revised by the logicians of the thirteenth century, became part of ordinary schooling across the Islamic world.
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More works by Athir al-Din al-Abhari
- c. 1250Guide to Philosophy
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