The Organon: The works of Aristotle on Logic Paperback – September 26, 2012

"Logic, therefore, as the science thought, or the science of the process of pure reason, should be capable of being constructed a priori."-Arthur Schopenhauer, The Art of Controversy("a priori" is defined as deduced from self-evident premises)Have you ever wondered why formal logic isn't taught in state controlled public schools? Ever wondered why the vast majority of the public seem to have no understanding of how to use formal logic to properly evaluate arguments in order to determine if they are sound or cogent? Why would the government of a supposedly free society suppress such a seemingly vital science? Isn't it important for the electorate to understand when they are being deceived with fallacious reasoning?Read The Organon by Aristotle, compare it to the ideas of other great logicians, learn the a priori laws of formal logic, and begin to see the truth that has been hidden from us for many generations.Like all important secrets, formal logic has its gatekeepers. These are the academics/authors that suppress and subvert vital concepts about formal logic. They would like to see the masses suspended in lies and ignorance forever.Here are a few ideas from Aristotle and some others that I hope you will find helpful:"All instruction given or received by way of argument proceeds from pre-existent knowledge."-Aristotle, Posterior Analytics"We ought in fairness to fight our case with no help beyond the bare facts: nothing, therefore, should matter except the proof of those facts."-Aristotle, Rhetoric"The truth or falsity of a statement depends on facts, not on any power on the part of the statement itself of admitting contrary qualities". - Aristotle, Categories"Similarly with any other art or science. Consequently, if the attributes of the thing are apprehended, our business will then be to exhibit readily the demonstration. For if none of the true attributes of things had been omitted in the historical survey, we should be able to discover the proof and demonstrate everything which admitted of proof, and to make that clear , whose nature does not admit of proof".- Aristotle, Prior Analytics"We suppose ourselves to posses unqualified scientific knowledge of a thing, as opposed to knowing it in the accidental way in which the sophist knows, when we think that we know the cause on which the fact depends, as the cause of that fact and of no other, and further, that the fact could not be other than it is". - Aristotle, Posterior Analytics"Ignorance is preferable to error; and he is less remote from truth who believes nothing, than he who believes what is wrong."-Thomas Jefferson"Fallacious reasoning is just the opposite of what can be called cogent reasoning. We reason cogently when we reason (1) validly; (2) from premises well supported by evidence; and (3) using all relevant evidence we know of. The purpose of avoiding fallacious reasoning is, of course, to increase our chances of reasoning cogently."-Howard Kahane, Logic and Contemporary Rhetoric, 1976, second edition"Aristotle devides all conclusions into logical and dialectical, in the manner described, and then into eristical. (3) Eristic is the method by which the form of the conclusion is correct, but the premises, the material from which it is drawn, are not true, but only appear to be true. Finally (4) sophistic is the method in which the form of the conclusion is false, although it seems correct. These three last properly belong to the art of Controversial Dialectic, as they have no objective truth in view, but only the appearance of it, and pay no regard to truth itself; that is to say, they aim at victory."-Arthur Schopenhauer, The Art of Controversy"The fallacy of suppressed evidence is committed when an arguer ignores evidence that would tend to undermine the premises of an otherwise good argument, causing it to be unsound or uncogent. Suppressed evidence is a fallacy of presumption and is closely related to begging the question. As such, it's occurrence does not affect the relationship between premises and conclusion but rather the alleged truth of premises. The fallacy consists in passing off what are at best half-truths as if they were whole truths, thus making what is actually a defective argument appear to be good. The fallacy is especially common among arguers who have a vested interest in the situation to which the argument pertains."-Patrick Hurley, A Concise Introduction to Logic (1985)"The province of Logic must be restricted to that portion of our knowledge which consists of inferences from truths previously known; whether those antecedent data be general propositions, or particular observations and perceptions. Logic is not the science of Belief, but the science of Proof, or Evidence. In so far as belief professes to be founded on proof, the office of Logic is to supply a test for ascertaining whether or not the belief is well grounded."- John Stuart Mill, A System of Logic"From the proletarians nothing is to be feared. Left to themselves, they will continue from generation to generation and from century to century, working, breeding, and dying, not only without any impulse to rebel, but without the power of grasping that the world could be other than it is. They could only be dangerous if the advance of industrial technique made it necessary to educate them more highly; but, since military and commercial rivalry are no longer important, the level of popular education is actually declining. What opinions the masses hold, or do not hold, is looked upon as a matter of indifference. They can be granted intellectual liberty because they have no intellect."-George Orwell, 1984

This is a terrific collection that otherwise never seemed to come together in an affordable, single volume edition. Since it is Aristotle, the value of the contents is a given. As such, anyone interested in having these texts could do little better than to have this fine volume. If I were to make any suggestion, if Porphyry's traditional Introduction to the Categories was included herein, that would make for quite the complete package.

Aristotle's writing has never been called pretty by anyone (except Cicero), but these translations are, in my opinion, particularly atrocious. As another review commented, it feels as though it was directly translated from Greek to English with little regard for the conventions of the English language. "Besides these there is the judgement that that which is good is not good, parallel with the judgement that that that is not good is good." Why did the translator feel compelled to ludicrously pen the phrase "that that that is not good is good"? There are many viable alternatives that are far more clear without significantly altering the meaning, for example "...the judgement according to which the not-good is good." Instead, the translators (I'm looking at you, Miss Edghill) systematically choose the most twisted way of saying phrase after phrase. This confusing translation does not aid scholars--you can make a translation true to the original by simply adding linguistic notes in especially difficult areas that really need them to preserve the author's intent.The formatting of this edition, which the editor in the preface calls a "bare-bones English language edition... prepared for my own use..." does not do anything to temper the complaints about the translation, as it contains no notes of any kind. All of this in spite of the fact that Aristotle wrote in the form of teaching aids, not self-study manuals.To top it all off, as if the frustrating translations and total lack of notes were not sufficiently annoying, there are constant little grammatical errors littered all throughout the book. The editor says that he first got the text in 1996 from the MIT classics archive and printed it. In the subsequent 20+ years that have elapsed since that time, it doesn't seem that the editor ever got around to, you know, editing the edition. "...if it is not white, the man who states that it is making [sic] a false statement." It should read "the man who states that it is is making..." My favorite is on page 65. "Evidently then, whenever the premisses are similar in form, and one is universal, the other particular, a syllogism can, not [sic] be formed anyhow."I can, not, understand how it is that that that is so poorly translated and edited could be published and taken seriously. Go buy a copy translated, edited, and published by professionals. Both Aristotle and you deserve better.

Great book, but not an easy read (it is Aristotle after all). Would have been helpful if a glossary was included for some of the more obsolete terms, but well worth the money.

"Categores," "On Interpretation," "Prior Analytics," "Posterior Analytics," "Topics," and "Sophistical Refutations" make up Aristotle's "organon" (-a tool, and in this case, a tool for thinking well on any subject.) Roger Bishop Jones put this edition together when he couldn't find an available one to suit his purpose.Each section of each work has a handy heading but there is no commentary and no glossary but a fine index. It's a solid student edition.

I got it right on!!! Good servisse and quality. I certanly recommend it.Very deep into Greek culture, great introduction on classical logic.

The book arrived in good condition

just what i needed

Although lacking much information regarding the publishers, the fact that a physical translated copy of the Organan could be obtained was enough to satisfy me, and a good translation on top of that.