Workshop in Ancient Philosophy (Thursday - Week 2, MT25)
Thursday 23 October, 4:00pm - 6:00pm
Ryle Room (20.339), Schwarzman Centre
Chris Izgin (University of Oxford): 'Themistius on the Grasp of Axioms in the Posterior Analytics'
Chair: Ursula Coope
Abstract: In his Paraphrasis of Aristotle's Posterior Analytics, Themistius claims that the intellect grasps the per se attributes of which axioms are composed. However, he does not give any examples, leaving his account unsubstantiated. I aim to show that Aristotle’s principles of non-contradiction and of excluded middle, which are axioms common to all demonstrative sciences, are derivable from the per se attributes that are part of Aristotle’s definition of contradiction.
Workshop in Ancient Philosophy Convenors: Alexander Bown (MT), Marion Durand (HT), Ursula Coope (TT).