•  38
    Michael Wolff über Beweise für vollkommene Syllogismen bei Aristoteles
    Journal for General Philosophy of Science / Zeitschrift für Allgemeine Wissenschaftstheorie 41 (1). 2010.
    The paper rejects Michael Wolff's claim that Aristotle offers proofs for the validity of his perfect syllogisms.
  •  26
    Michael Wolff über Kant als Logiker. Eine Stellungnahme zu Wolffs Metakritik
    Journal for General Philosophy of Science / Zeitschrift für Allgemeine Wissenschaftstheorie 41 (2). 2010.
    In an earlier article (see J Gen Philos Sci (2009) 40: 357-372) I have discussed the arguments brought forward by Michael Wolff against the interpretation given in the commentary by Ebert and Nortmann on Aristotle's syllogistic theory (Aristoteles Analytica Priora Buch I, übersetzt und erläutert von Theodor Ebert und Ulrich Nortmann. Berlin 2007) and against the critique of Kant's adaption of the syllogistic logic. I have dealt with Wolff's arguments concerning (Ebert/Nortmann's interpretation o…Read more
  •  1
    Pythagoras and the Pythagoreans. A Brief History (review)
    Zeitschrift für Philosophische Forschung 56 (3). 2002.
    Kahn tries to do justice to the contribution Pythagoras and his followers might have had for Greek science. Thus he downplays the religious figure so prominent with Burkert's groundbreaking study "Lore and Science". He sees the transformation Pythagorean ideas may have undergone in Plato's Academy as pivotal for the developments of Pythagoreanism in later antiquity as well as in Renaissance speculation, e. g. Kepler. The book offers a good overview for the history of Pythagoreanism from its foun…Read more
  • Platon über den Wert der Wahrnehmung.
    In Christof Rapp & Tim Wagner (eds.), Wissen und Bildung in der antiken Philosophie., Metzler. 2006.
    This paper discusses passages in Plato’s Phaedo which seem to contradict each other: at Phaedo 65a-d and at 66e-67a Plato seems to rule out that sense perception can be of any help in the acquisition of knowledge, whereas at Phaedo 74b-75a it is claimed that we get our knowledge of (the form of) equality only via the perception of equal things. I argue that the incompatibility of these passages is only apparent since in the first group of texts (all taken from Socrates’ so-called apology) Socra…Read more
  •  247
    It is argued that recollection in Plato's "Meno" is used as a metaphor, though not one for a priori knowledge: the point of comparison is the analogy between the processes of learning in the sense of coming to know from an error and recollecting something one has forgotten. Recollecting in this sense as well as correcting an error implies the becoming aware of a lack of knowledge previously unnoticed. It is shown that the geometry lesson (82b9-85b7) is intended to bring out this analogy. It is a…Read more
  •  77
    Praxis und Poiesis. Zu einer handlungstheoretischen Unterscheidung des Aristoteles
    Zeitschrift für Philosophische Forschung 30 (1). 1976.
    I try to show that Aristotle does not restrict 'praxis' to those activities which have their end in themselves. NE VI 5, 1140b6-7 need not to be taken as an argument in favour of the restricted interpretation: the wording of the passage is compatible with the interpretation that the end of a praxis is (another) praxis (e.g. eupraxia), the end of a poiesis on the other hand is never a poiesis. This interpretation fits better the use of 'praxis' throughout the NE. MM A 34, 1197a4-12 is discarded s…Read more
  • Anthony Kenny, Aristotle on the Perfect Life. Oxford 1992 (review)
    Zeitschrift für Philosophische Forschung 48 (3): 470-473. 1994.
  • This is a Review of Kenny's book on Aristotle's NE.
  • Socrates on the Definition of Figure in the Meno
    In K. S. Corrigan Stern-Gillet (ed.), Reading Ancient Texts. Vol. I: Presocratics and Plato, Brill. pp. 113-124. 2007.
    This paper argues that Socrates’ second definition of figure in Plato’s Meno (76a5–7) is deliberately insufficient: It states only a necessary condition for something’s being a figure, not a condition that is necessary as well as sufficient. For although it is true that every figure (in plane geometry) is (or corresponds to) a limit of a solid, not every limit of solid is a figure, i.e. not if the solid has a curved surface. It is argued that this mistake is one Meno was meant to detect, since o…Read more
  •  2
    The origin of the Stoic theory of signs in Sextus Empiricus
    Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy 5 83-126. 1987.
    In this paper I argue that the Stoic theory of signs as reported by Sextus Empiricus in AM and in PH belongs to Stoic logicians which precede Chrysippus. I further argue that the PH-version of this theory presupposes the version in AM and is an attempt to improve the older theory. I tentatively attribute the PH-version to Cleanthes and the AM-version to Zeno. I finally argue that the origin of this Stoic theory is to be found in the Dialectical school (probably Philo of Megara) whose theory of s…Read more
  •  8
    This paper argues that Plato’s Meno does not offer evidence for a belief, commonly attributed to Plato, that we when learning something recollect what we learn from previous existences. This “theory of recollection” is a construct based on a reading of the relevant passages in the Meno which does not take into account the dialectical aspect of Socrates’ discussion with his interlocutor. And in one passage (81e3) it is based on a variant reading for which a better and better attested reading is …Read more
  • The paper discusses Timaeus 27d5-29b1, i.e. part of the proem of Timaeus' lecture. This passage contains the exposition of three principles (27d5-28b2) and their application to certain questions intended to lay the foundations for the subsequent cosmology (28b2-29b1). I argue that one of the main results Timaeus wants to deduce from his principles, i.e. the claim that the cosmos has been constructed by a divine craftsman, is not warranted by his principles and rests on a rather conspicuous flaw …Read more
  •  66
    The paper takes up a proposal made in 1936 by Guido Calogero concerning Parmenides 8.34-41 DK. According to Calogero, these verses should be placed behind 8.52 DK. Calogero's conjecture has gone unnoticed in the bulk of the Parmenides literature. I defend this transposition, partly enlarging Calogero's arguments, and discuss the philosophical implications of moving this text to the beginning of the doxa part of Parmenides' poem.
  •  951
    Warum fehlt bei Aristoteles die 4. Figur?
    Archiv für Geschichte der Philosophie 62 (1): 13-31. 1980.
    The reason for Aristotle’s treatment of (traditional) fourth figure syllogisms as first figure syllogisms with inverted terms in the conclusion is the following: To disprove the conclusiveness of a premiss pair Aristotle formulates two triplets of true propositions such that two of them correspond to the premiss pair in question and that the third proposition corresponding to a conclusion is an a-proposition in the first case, an e-proposition in the other. Since the truth of an a-proposition g…Read more
  •  196
    Why is Evenus Called a Philosopher at Phaedo 61c?
    Classical Quarterly 51 (2): 423-434. 2001.
    I contend that “philosophos” is meant to carry the connotation of a Pythagorean: Euenus is a native from Paros which had a strong Pythagorean community down to the end of the fifth century. Moreover, “philosophos” was used to refer to the Pythagoreans, as can be seen from the story related by Cicero from Heraclides Ponticus (Tusc. Disp. V, iii, 7-8; cp. DL, 1.12; 8.8). I argue (against Burkert) that even if this story is part of the lore surrounding Pythagoras and, hence, without historical valu…Read more
  •  1481
    Was ist ein vollkommener Syllogismus des Aristoteles?
    Archiv für Geschichte der Philosophie 77 (3): 221-247. 1995.
    This paper (1) criticizes Patzig's explanation of Aristotle's reason for calling his first figure syllogisms perfect syllogisms, i.e. the transitivity relation: it can only be used for Barbara, not for the other three moods. The paper offers (2) an alternative interpretation: It is only in the case of the (perfect) first figure moods that we can move from the subject term of the minor premiss, taken to be a predicate of an individual, to the predicate term of the major premiss. This contention i…Read more
  • Wissenschaft, Philosophie und Religion im frühen Pythagoreismus (review)
    Zeitschrift für Philosophische Forschung 53 (4). 1999.
    This is a review of Leonid Zhmud, Wissenschaft, Philosophie und Religion im frühen Pythagoreismus. Berlin 1997. I strengthen Zhmud's intention to allow Pythagoras a place in early Greek science as against the religious figure Pythagoras is given in Burkert's influential study "Lore and Science". I stress Pythagoras' Samian background, Samos was after all an influential intellectual and technological center in Pythagoras' time.
  •  522
    Why does Aristotle not use the copulative wording for categorical propositions, but instead the clumsier terminological formulations (e. g. the B belongs to every A) in his syllogistic? The proposed explanations by Alexander, Lukasiewicz and Patzig: Aristotle wants to make clear the difference between subject and predicate, seems to be insufficient. In quantified categorical propositions, this difference is always sufficiently clear by the use of the pronouns going with the subject expressions. …Read more
  •  5
    Zweck und Mittel. Zur Klärung einiger Grundbegriffe der Handlungstheorie
    Allgemeine Zeitschrift für Philosophie 2 (2): 21-39. 1977.
    I argue that since means (Mittel) are of an objective nature, are things (in a broad sense of the word) and ends (Zwecke) on the other hand are states of affairs (Sachverhalte), there cannot be chains of means and ends where an achieved end can be taken to be a means to another end.
  •  2
    Aristoteles: Analytica Priora. Buch I. übersetzt und erläutert. (edited book)
    with Ulrich Nortmann
    Akademie Verlag. 2007.
    This is a German translation with commentary of Aristotle’s Prior Analytics, Book I. The introduction (‚Einleitung‘, pp. 97–182) contains a concise history of the reception of Aristotle’s syllogistic from Theophrastus to Kant and Hegel. The commentary places special attention to the modal chapters (i. e. I 3 and 8–22). Aristotle’s modal syllogistic is treated with more sympathy than in other modern commentaries and discussions of this part of Aristotle’s logic.
  • This is a shorter presentation of my commentary on the Meno of 2018. The German translation is here accompanied by a Greek text.
  •  9
    Zum griechischen text dieser ausgabe
    In Menon, De Gruyter. pp. 135-168. 2019.
  •  8
    Verzeichnis der benutzten literatur
    In Menon, De Gruyter. pp. 169-176. 2019.
  •  15
    Frontmatter
    In Menon, De Gruyter. pp. 1-4. 2019.
  •  12
    Inhalt
    In Menon, De Gruyter. pp. 7-8. 2019.
  •  3
    Text und übersetzung
    In Menon, De Gruyter. pp. 25-134. 2019.
  •  3
    Vorwort
    In Menon, De Gruyter. pp. 5-6. 2019.
  •  14
    Einführung
    In Menon, De Gruyter. pp. 9-24. 2019.
  •  5
    Personenregister
    In Menon, De Gruyter. pp. 177-178. 2019.