Patriot Act

Name WC: 1212

English 2 Honors

Period 6

Mrs. ????

March 30, ????

The Classification of Knowledge

Thesis Statement: Aristotle used syllogism, analytical methods, and logic to classify knowledge.

I. Syllogism

A. Logical arguments

B. Supportive reasoning

II. Logic

A. Classifying the different sciences

B. Methods of logic

III. Analytical Method

A. Math and Science

B. Rules and Axioms

IV. Logic and analytical methods in biology

A. Classification of Animals

B. Classification of Plants

Is the Earth round? Is the Earth the center of the universe? How can we prove mathematical concepts? What is the difference between animals? How can we answer the questions above? These are just a few of the questions Aristotle wanted answered. He questioned and presented logical explanations of many elements of the world around him. Aristotle set out to find not only solutions to some of world’s concepts, but the proof to back them as well. Aristotle used syllogism, analytical methods, and logic to classify knowledge.

What is syllogism? Syllogism is a form of deductive reasoning. An example of a syllogism: Every Irish person is human. Every human is mortal. Therefore, every Irish person is mortal. Syllogisms can be used in many different situations to prove a theory. Aristotle uses syllogism to prove his theories in many areas (Strathern 32-33).

Aristotle would call each sentence from the above example a proposition, or a sentence considered in respect of its logical features. A syllogism contains three propositions, or three sentences, where the third of the three is the conclusion of the syllogism (Kenny 117). The first two propositions are what Aristotle considers premises. A syllogism such as the one above, where they start with the word ‘every’ at the beginning of each sentence, is what Aristotle terms a universal proposition. There are two different types of universal propositions Aristotle covers. The first would be for example ‘No Irish are fish’, which is referred to as a universal negative. The second would be like the first example ‘Every Irish person is mortal’, and is referred to as a universal affirmative.

Aristotle is said to be the founder of the logic (Kenny 117). Logic is said to be the disciple that sorts out good arguments from bad or poor arguments. Aristotle put this logical approach to use in many different areas, one of which was nature. He believed there was so much one could learn from observing nature. Using logic he started to classify the earth. He believed that everything was made up of one of the four elements: earth, water, air or fire. He also accepted the notion that earth was the center of the universe, with the moon, planets, sun and stars all orbiting around the earth in perfect circles.

Logic showed him that each of the four elements always sought to return to their natural place. (“Aristotle Rules of Logic”). For example, a rock would drop to the earth as soon as any obstacles preventing it were removed. Because of the earth elements being denser and heavier, the rock would seek to move downwards towards the center of the planet. He would further explain why a rock would travel though the air first before heading downwards when thrown. This was because air, seeking to close the gap made by the invasion of the rock, would propel it along until it lost its horizontal speed and then the rock would tumble to the ground ("Aristotle Isolates Science…”).

He used logic to explain the other elements’ relationship to the earth. Water elements would float along the surface of the earth. Air would rise above the earth. Fire would seek to rise above them all by leaping in the upward direction (“Aristotle”).

In other science areas Aristotle was more detailed and accurate in his assessment. For example, he reinforced the view that the