Formal approaches and natural language in medieval logic : proceedings of the XIXth European Symposium of Medieval Logic and Semantics, Geneva, 12-16 June 2012

The late medieval period is widely acknowledged as one of the most salient moments of the history of logic and semantics. It not only considered logic as a sine qua non condition for scientific knowledge, it also begot highly sophisticated theories about both argumentation and language. The last fifty years of increasingly intense research have brought about an ever more detailed knowledge of these theories. And yet, the questions as to what kind of logic is medieval logic, whether and to what extent it corresponds to our conception of logic, and, even, what the nature of its object was, remain challenging. That it has a formal character is widely accepted; and its semantic components display remarkable affinities with contemporary ones. But is it formal in the way modern logic is - or believes it is? Medieval logic does not really make recourse to symbolisms, after all, and the fact that the idea of formal validity might have been born in the twelfth century does not mean that developing formal approaches was an aim of medieval logicians. And what is its semantics a semantics of? Medieval logicians use Latin to deal with Latin constructions, but do these constructions belong to natural language or are they regimented to the point of forming some sort of ideal language? The twenty-five papers gathered in this volume deal with these issues, thus allowing to reassess the broader questions of the formal character and formalising ambitions of medieval logic, as well as that of the natural character of the language in (and on) which it operated: in other words, they address the question of the nature, object and purpose of medieval logic. Front Matter ("Contents", "Introduction"), p. i Free Access I. Formal Logic: Hylomorphism and Formal Validity On Medium in the Early Twelfth Century, p. 3 Yukio Iwakuma https://doi.org/10.1484/M.TEMA-EB.4.2017087 Abelard’s Argument for Formality, p. 41 John MacFarlane https://doi.org/10.1484/M.TEMA-EB.4.2017088 Abaelard on Logical Truth, p. 59 Christopher John Martin https://doi.org/10.1484/M.TEMA-EB.4.2017089 Le caractère formel de la logique en tant qu’ars, p. 77 Giulia Lombardi https://doi.org/10.1484/M.TEMA-EB.4.2017090 La forme syllogistique et le problème des syllogismes sophistiques selon Robert Kilwardby, p. 93 Julie Brumberg-Chaumont https://doi.org/10.1484/M.TEMA-EB.4.2017091 The Form of a Syllogism: Mood or Figure?, p. 117 Catarina Dutilh Novaes https://doi.org/10.1484/M.TEMA-EB.4.2017092 Analysing Arguments in the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries, p. 133 Paul Thom https://doi.org/10.1484/M.TEMA-EB.4.2017093 John Wyclif on the Formal Nature of Inference, p. 149 Joke Spruyt https://doi.org/10.1484/M.TEMA-EB.4.2017094 What is Form All About? A 14th-Century Discussion of Logical Consequence, p. 173 Riccardo Strobino https://doi.org/10.1484/M.TEMA-EB.4.2017095 II. Formal Semantics: Issues and Strategies Habitudines locales, p. 197 Sten Ebbesen https://doi.org/10.1484/M.TEMA-EB.4.2017096 Aristotle’s Fallacy of Equivocation and its 13th Century Reception, p. 217 Ana María Mora-Márquez https://doi.org/10.1484/M.TEMA-EB.4.2017097 «Utrum figura dictionis sit fallacia in dictione. Et quod non videtur». A Taxonomic Puzzle or How Medieval Logicians Came to Account for an Odd Question by an Impossible Answer, p. 239 Leone Gazziero https://doi.org/10.1484/M.TEMA-EB.4.2017098 Scotus’s Formal Semantics of Modal Notions, p. 269 Simo Knuuttila https://doi.org/10.1484/M.TEMA-EB.4.2017099 «Sortes differt ab omni homine». A Tension in Albert of Saxony’s Concept of Merely Confused Supposition, p. 283 Harald Berger https://doi.org/10.1484/M.TEMA-EB.4.2017100 Semantics and Pragmatics of Reference. Elements of a Contemporary Theory of Supposition, p. 303 Luca Sbordone https://doi.org/10.1484/M.TEMA-EB.4.2017101 Jerónimo Pardo on the Formality of the Expository Syllogism, p. 325 Paloma Pérez-Ilzarbe https://doi.org/10.1484/M.TEMA-EB.4.2017102 III. Natural or Ideal Language? Aristotelian Protocol Languages, p. 343 Allan Bäck https://doi.org/10.1484/M.TEMA-EB.4.2017103 Formal Elements in Natural Language. Sherwood’s Syncategoremata Revisited, p. 373 Christoph Kann, Raina Kirchhoff https://doi.org/10.1484/M.TEMA-EB.4.2017104 Ockham on Nominal Definitions, Synonymy and Mental Language, p. 393 Claude Panaccio https://doi.org/10.1484/M.TEMA-EB.4.2017105 The Underdetermination of Mental Language in William of Ockham and John Buridan, p. 417 Ernesto Perini-Santos https://doi.org/10.1484/M.TEMA-EB.4.2017106 Jean Buridan : une philosophie du langage ordinaire ?, p. 435 Joël Biard https://doi.org/10.1484/M.TEMA-EB.4.2017107 Non-normal Propositions in Buridan’s Logic, p. 453 Stephen Read https://doi.org/10.1484/M.TEMA-EB.4.2017108 Beyond Formality: The Role of the Dialectical Context in Medieval Logic, p. 469 Sara L. Uckelman https://doi.org/10.1484/M.TEMA-EB.4.2017109 How Natural is Natural Language? Some Postmedieval discussions, p. 485 E. Jennifer Ashworth https://doi.org/10.1484/M.TEMA-EB.4.2017110 Appendix to an impossible cover, p. 501 Paolo Natali https://doi.org/10.1484/M.TEMA-EB.4.2017111 Back Matter ("Index auctorum antiquorum et mediaevalium", "Index auctorum recentiorum", "Index rerum", "Index codicum"), p. 511 Is medieval logic formal? And if yes, in what sense? There are striking affinities between medieval and contemporary theories of language. Authors from the two periods share formal ambitions and maintain complex, and at time uneasy, relations with natural language. However, modern scholars became careful not to overlook the specificities of theories developed more than five hundred years apart, in particular with respect to their 'formal' character. In 1972, Alfonso Maieru noted that the efforts of medieval logicians to identify logical structures in language formal enough to become objects of scientific consideration. He also stressed that the language investigated is a historical one, Latin, so that one can legitimately wonder to which extent ... one is allowed to speak of 'formal logic' in the middle ages. In other words, medieval logic is characterized by a tension between 'formalist ambitions' and constraints proper to natural language. Today, our knowledge of the field has considerably expanded, calling for a new assessment of the question. Edited By Laurent Cesalli, Frédéric Goubier, Alain De Libera ; With The Collaboration Of Manuel Gustavo Isaac. International Conference Proceedings. Includes Bibliographical References And Indexes. Texts In English, French, Or Latin.