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Prehistory of logic
Valid reasoning has been employed in all periods of human history. However, logic studies
the principles of valid reasoning, inference and demonstration. It is probable that the idea of
demonstrating a conclusion first arose in connection with geometry, which originally meant
the same as "land measurement" In particular, the ancient Egyptians had
empirically discovered some truths of geometry, such as the formula for the volume of
a truncated pyramid
Fragments of early proofs are preserved in the works of Plato and Aristotle ] and the idea of
a deductive system was probably known in the Pythagorean school and the Platonic
Academy. Separately from geometry, the idea of a standard argument pattern is found in
the method of proof known as reduction ad absurdum, which was used by Zeno of Elea,
a pre-Socratic philosopher of the fifth century BC. This is the technique of drawing an
obviously false (that is, "absurd") conclusion from an assumption, thus demonstrating that
the assumption is false. Plato's Parmenides portrays Zeno as claiming to have written a
book defending the monism of Parmenides by demonstrating the absurd consequence of
assuming that there is plurality. Other philosophers who practice such dialectic reasoning
were the "minor Socratics", including Euclid of Megara, who were probably followers of
Parmenides and Zeno. The members of this school were called "dialecticians" (from a
Greek word meaning "to discuss").
Further evidence that pre-Aristotelian thinkers were concerned with the principles of
reasoning is found in the fragment called dissoi logoi, probably written at the beginning of
the fourth century BC. This is part of a protracted debate about truth and falsity.
In the case of the classical Greek city-states, interest in argumentation was also stimulated
by the activities of the Rhetoricians or Orators and the Sophists, who used arguments to
defend or attack a thesis, both in legal and political contexts.
Separately from geometry, the idea of a standard argument pattern is found in the method
of proof known as reduction ad absurdum, which was used by Zeno of Elea, a pre-
Socratic philosopher of the fifth century BC. This is the technique of drawing an obviously
false (that is, "absurd") conclusion from an assumption, thus demonstrating that the
assumption is false Plato's Parmenides portrays Zeno as claiming to have written a book
defending the monism of Parmenides by demonstrating the absurd consequence of
assuming that there is plurality. Other philosophers who practiced such dialectic reasoning
were the "minor Socratics", including Euclid of Megara, who were probably followers of
Parmenides and Zeno. The members of this school were called "dialecticians" (from a
Greek word meaning "to discuss").
Further evidence that pre-Aristotelian thinkers were concerned with the principles of
reasoning is found in the fragment called dissoi logoi, probably written at the beginning of
the fourth century BC. This is part of a protracted debate about truth and falsity .
In the case of the classical Greek city-states, interest in argumentation was also stimulated
by the activities of the Rhetoricians or Orators and the Sophists, who used arguments to
defend or attack a thesis, both in legal and political contexts.
Aristotle's logic
Main article: Organon
The logic of Aristotle, and particularly his theory of the syllogism, has had an enormous
influence in Western thought. His logical works, called the Organon, are the earliest formal
study of logic that have come down to modern times. Though it is difficult to determine the
dates, the probable order of writing of Aristotle's logical works is:
These works are of outstanding importance in the history of logic. Aristotle was the first
logician to attempt a systematic analysis of logical syntax, of noun (or term), and of verb. In
the Categories, he attempts to discern all the possible things to which a term can refer; this
idea underpins his philosophical work Metaphysics, which itself had a profound influence on
Western thought. He was the first to deal with the principles of contradiction and excluded
middle in a systematic way. He was the first formal logician, in that he demonstrated the
principles of reasoning by employing variables to show the underlying logical form of an
argument. He was looking for relations of dependence which characterized necessary
inference, and distinguished the validity of these relations, from the truth of the premises
(the soundness of the argument). The Prior Analytics contains his exposition of the
"syllogism", where three important principles are applied for the first time in history: the use
of variables, a purely formal treatment, and the use of an axiomatic system. He also
developed a theory of non-formal logic (i.e., the theory of fallacies), which is presented
in Topics and Sophistical Refutations.