POST-AVICENNAN LOGICIANS ON THE SUBJECT MATTER OF LOGIC: SOME THIRTEENTH- AND FOURTEENTH-CENTURY DISCUSSIONS

• Published in: Arabic sciences and philosophy : a historical journal Vol. 22; no. 1; pp. 69 - 90
• Main Author: El-Rouayheb, Khaled
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge, UK Cambridge University Press 01.03.2012
• Subjects: Arab people; Ibn Khaldun (1332-1406); Logic; Philosophical logics. Philosophy of language; Philosophy; Istanbul Turkey; Cairo Egypt; Turkey; United States > US; Egypt; Avicenna; Conception; Object; Subject; Assent; Philosophical Logic
• ISSN: 0957-4239; 1474-0524
• DOI: 10.1017/S0957423911000105

In the thirteenth century, the influential logician Afḍal al-Dīn al-Khūnajī (d. 1248) departed from the Avicennan view that the subject matter of logic is “second intentions”. For al-Khūnajī, the subject matter of logic is “the objects of conception and assent”. His departure elicited intense and sometimes abstruse discussions in the course of subsequent centuries. Prominent supporters of Khūnajī's view on the subject matter of logic included Kātibī (d. 1277), Ibn Wāṣil (d. 1298) and Taftāzānī (d. 1390). Defenders of Avicenna's view included Ṭūsī (d. 1274), Samarqandī (d. 1303) and Quṭb al-Dīn al-Rāzī (d. 1365). This article presents the outline of the development of this discussion down to the end of the fourteenth century and attempts to reconstruct the major arguments of both sides. Au xiiie siècle, l'influent logicien, Afḍal al-Dīn al-Khūnajī (m. en 1248), se démarque du point de vue avicennien d'après lequel ce sont les “intentions secondes” qui forment le sujet de la logique. Pour al-Khūnajī, le sujet de la logique, ce sont “les objets des conceptions et des assentiments”. Cet écart par rapport à la formulation avicennienne va susciter, au cours des siècles suivants, d'intenses et parfois abstruses discussions. Dans le camp de ceux qui adhèrent au point de vue d'al-Khūnajī, on trouve des auteurs tels que Kātibī (m. en 1277), Ibn Wāṣil (m. en 1298) et Taftāzānī (m. en 1390). En revanche, Ṭūsī (m. en 1274), Samarqandī (m. en 1303) et Quṭb al-Dīn al-Rāzī (m. en 1365) se rangent dans le camp des défenseurs du point de vue d'Avicenne. Cet article présente les grandes lignes qui marquent le développement de cette discussion jusqu'à la fin du xive siècle et tente de reconstruire les arguments des deux partis.