Alexander of Aphrodisias On Aristotle Prior Analytics 1.8-13 This page intentionally left blank Alexander of Aphrodisias On Aristotle Prior Analytics 1.8-13 (with 1.17,36b35-37a31) Translated by Ian Mueller with Josiah Gould Introduction, Notes and Appendices by Ian Mueller LONDON • NEW DELHI • NEW YORK • SYDNEY Bloomsbury Academic An imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc 50 Bedford Square 1385 Broadway London New York WC1B 3DP NY 10018 UK USA www.bloomsbury.com First published in 1999 by Gerald Duckworth & Co. Ltd. Paperback edition first published 2014 © Ian Mueller, 1999 Ian Mueller asserts his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as Author of this work. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers. No responsibility for loss caused to any individual or organization acting on or refraining from action as a result of the material in this publication can be accepted by Bloomsbury Academic or the author. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publicataion Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN HB: 978-0-7156-2855-3 PB: 978-1-7809-3881-3 ePDF: 978-1-7809-3880-6 Acknowledgements The present translations have been made possible by generous and imaginative funding from the following sources: the National Endowment for the Humanities, Division of Research Programs, an independent federal agency of the USA; the Leverhulme Trust; the British Academy; the Jowett Copyright Trustees; the Royal Society (UK); Centro Internazionale A. Beltrame di Storia dello Spazio e del Tempo (Padua); Mario Mignucci; Liverpool University; the Leventis Foundation; the Humanities Research Board of the British Academy; the Esmée Fairbairn Charitable Trust; the Henry Brown Trust; Mr and Mrs N. Egon; The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO/GW). The editor wishes to thank Jonathan Barnes, Tad Brennan, Kevin Flannery, Pamela Huby, Michael B. Papazian, Richard Patterson and Donald Russell for their comments on the volume, and Han Baltussen for preparing the volume for press. Typeset by Ray Davies Printed and bound in Great Britain Contents Editor’s Note vii Preface ix Introduction I. Assertoric syllogistic 4 II. Modal syllogistic without contingency 9 II.A. Conversion of necessary propositions 9 II.B. NN-combinations 11 II.C. N+U combinations 13 III. Modal syllogistic with contingent propositions 19 III.A. Strict contingency and its transformation rules 19 III.B. Alexander and the temporal interpretation of modality 23 III.C. Conversion of necessary propositions 25 III.D. Conversion of contingent propositions 27 III.D.1 Conversion of affirmative contingent propositions 27 III.D.2 Non-convertibility of negative contingent propositions 31 Notes 34 Summary (overview of symbols and rules) 39 Translation: The commentary Textual Emendations 52 1.8 Combinations with two necessary premisses 53 1.9-11 Combinations with one necessary and one unqualified premiss 58 1.9 The first figure 58 1.10 The second figure 70 1.11 The third figure 81 1.12 Summary remarks on the necessary and the unqualified 89 1.13 Remarks on contingency 93 1.17, 36b35-37a31 Failure of EE-conversion for contingent premisses 106 vi Contents Notes 117 Appendix 1. The expression ‘by necessity’ (ex anankês) 145 Appendix 2. Affirmation and negation 147 Appendix 3. Conditional necessity 148 Appendix 4. On Interpretation, chapters 12 and 13 153 Appendix 5. Weak two-sided Theophrastean contingency 155 Appendix 6. Textual notes on Aristotle’s text 159 Bibliography 163 English-Greek Glossary 165 Greek-English Index 169 Subject Index 185 Index Locorum 187 Editor’s Note This text, translated in two volumes, is a very important one because Alexander’s is the main commentary on the chapters in which Aristotle invented modal logic, i.e. the logic of necessary (possible) and contingent propositions. Because it is more technical than the other texts in this series, Ian Mueller explains the modal logic in his masterly introduc- tion, which takes an exceptional form, being couched in logical symbols partly of his own devising. All symbols are explained on first occurrence. Symbols are entirely excluded from the translation itself, and this can be consulted freely by those who do not wish to master the entire modal system. In this volume, Alexander reaches the chapter of Aristotle’s Prior Analytics (1.13) where Aristotle discusses the notion of contingency, and we have added Alexander’s commentary on that part of 1.17 where the conversion of contingent propositions is handled, the contingent being what may or may not happen. Aristotle also invented the theory of the syllogism, and in the present chapters he discusses syllogisms consisting of two necessary proposi- tions, as well as the more controversial syllogisms containing one necessary and one non-modal premiss. The discussion of syllogisms containing contingent propositions is reserved for the companion volume. December 1998 R.R.K.S. Preface This translation has been literally decades (two) in the making. Josiah Gould, acting on a suggestion of Ian Mueller, prepared a first draft of the translation. Mueller produced a second draft and, then, in consult- ation with Gould, a third and final version with introduction, notes, appendices, and indices. We are certain that errors remain, but know that there would have been many more without the advice of Tad Brennan, Glenn Most, Richard Patterson, Robin Smith, and several anonymous readers whose friendly but stern admonitions turned us from some paths. We take full responsibility for remaining on other paths despite their counsel. December 1998 I.M. J.G. Introduction We offer here a translation of Alexander of Aphrodisias’ commentary on chapters 8-13 and most of 17 of book 1 of Aristotle’s Prior Analytics. In chapters 8-12 Aristotle presents what we call his modal logic as applied to necessary and to what we call unqualified propositions. In chapter 13 Aristotle discusses the notion of contingency, and in the part of 17 translated here he treats the so-called conversion of contingent propo- sitions. In a separate volume we have translated Alexander’s commentary on chapters 14-22, in which Aristotle treats arguments involving contingent propositions. Chapters 1, 2, and 4-7 of the Prior Analytics constitute a self-contained presentation of what we will call non-modal or assertoric syllogistic. Alexander’s commentary on this material (and on chapter 3) has been admirably translated and dis- cussed by Barnes et al. We refer the reader to their introduction for information about Alexander, ancient commentaries, and the general character of Alexander’s commentary on the whole Prior Analytics. In making choices for how to deal with our task, we have always begun by consulting Barnes et al. for guidance, and in many cases have followed their practices. But the greater difficulty of the material we have to present here has led us to diverge from them in some significant ways. First of all, in our notes and discussions we have relied on a quasi-formal symbolism. We hope that the symbolism is enlightening; we are confident that a full exposition of our text not using some formalism would run to much greater length. To put this another way, if one used a formal symbolism one could encapsulate the full content of Alexander’s commentary in many fewer pages than Alexander has used. We have, however, not thought it a good idea to introduce formal symbolism into the translation itself. Our major departure from Alex- ander’s text is that we have used considerably more variables than Alexander uses; we have sometimes done the same thing in our trans- lations of Aristotle. To give one example, at 121,4-6, where Alexander writes, In both cases the conclusion proved is a particular negative necessary proposition of which the opposite is ‘It is contingent of all’ (endekhetai panti).