Relational Syllogisms and the History of Arabic Logic, 900-1900.

AuthorLagerlund, Henrik
PositionBook review

Relational Syllogisms and the History of Arabic Logic, 900-1900. By KHALED EL-ROUAYHEB. Islamic Philosophy, Theology and Science, vol. 80. Leiden: BRILL, 2010. Pp. viii + 295. $168.

Given the present focus on the Middle Eastern and the Islamic world, it is astonishing how little we know about the history of Arabic philosophy and logic. The so-called golden age of Arabic thought, which includes Avicenna and Averroes, is fairly well known, but if we move a little bit closer to the present time there are almost no studies at all.

Contemporary scholarship on the medieval Arabic logical tradition began with Nicholas Rescher's book The Development of Arabic Logic in 1964. His considerable achievement was for decades almost the only published research in this field. In 2004 the history of Arabic logic took another step forward through the work of Tony Street, who published a series of papers with new insights into this tradition, which to a large extent corrected Rescher's picture (T. Street, "Arabic and Islamic Philosophy of Language and Logic," Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Fall 2008 Edition, found at http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2008/entries/arabic-islamic-language/). It is fair to say that a third, equally important step forward has been taken by the publication of Khaled El-Rouayheb's new book Relational Syllogisms and the History of Arabic Logic, 900-1900.

Although El-Rouayheb limits himself to a discussion of relational syllogisms, he is able to give a much needed account of one thousand years of Arabic logic. The first period he identifies is what he calls the "classical" period, between 900 and 1200. This is the time period that includes al-Farabi, Avicenna, and Averroes, which in most books is the only period ever talked about; in El-Rouayheb's book it is the first chapter and provides a mere background to the rest of the book.

The second period starts in the early thirteenth century with Fakhr al-Din al-Razi, who divides the logical tradition into an early and a later tradition. After al-Razi the Arabic logical tradition became dissociated from Aristotle and more narrowly focused on predicables, definitions, propositions, and syllogisms. Most thirteenth-century logic can also be described as post-Avicennan in the sense that the philosophers' point of departure was Avicenna and not Aristotle himself.

In the fourteenth century another transformation takes place and lengthy summaries found in the earlier traditions became...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT