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329Aristotle on ComparisonOxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy 61 103-142. 2022.Many contemporary philosophers hold that comparison requires a common, monistic ‘covering value’, and Aristotle is often described as a forerunner of this view. This paper reconsiders that claim. First, its textual warrant is substantially weaker than has been thought. Philosophically, moreover, Aristotle’s theory of non-synonymous predication allows for comparisons to be made using the special kind of non-synonymous terms that he calls pros hen legomenon, literally those ‘said with reference to…Read more
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267Aristotle on multiple demonstrationBritish Journal for the History of Philosophy 27 (5): 902-920. 2019.How many scientific demonstrations can a single phenomenon have? This paper argues that, according to Aristotle's theory of scientific knowledge as laid out in the Posterior Analytics, a single conclusion may be demonstrated via more than one explanatory middle term. I also argue that this model of multiple demonstration is put into practice in the biological writings. This paper thereby accomplishes two related goals: it clarifies certain relatively obscure passages of the Posterior Analytics a…Read more
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Areas of Specialization
Ancient Greek and Roman Philosophy |
Philosophy of Race |
Arabic and Islamic Philosophy |