TOPICS IN THE THEORY OF DEFINITION

2014 ◽  
pp. 170-176
Author(s):  
SIMON KOCHEN
Keyword(s):  
Scrinium ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 244-260 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oksana Yu. Goncharko ◽  
Yuriy M. Romanenko

The article presents an overview of implementation of self-referential notions in the logical and theological texts of Byzantine scholars up to the 12th century. The commentaries on Porphyry’s and Aristotle’s theory of definition by John of Damascus, John Italus, and Theodore Prodromos are discussed. It is argued that the Byzantine scholars performed different original implementations of basic logical notions and discovered their self-referential property. The attention is paid to the five predicabilia notions of Porphyry and Aristotelian categories applications in logical, philosophical, and theological Byzantine texts. The authors conclude that the Byzantine solutions resemble some of the modern logical ideas of 20th century.



2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 98-119
Author(s):  
Andrew Payne

In Archytas of Tarentum, Carl Huffman reconstructs Archytas’ theory of definition by linking definitions to the mathematical study of ratios and proportions. This paper considers whether and how Archytas used definitions and whether he possessed a theory of definition. Our evidence does not support the claim that Archytas has a theory of definition, and his approach to the science of harmonics suggests that he relied on analogies and proportions in the practice of inquiry. We understand sounds and other entities by placing them in a network of relations governed by mathematical proportions. Although he does not seem to have formulated definitions of sound, Archytas pursued inquiry into motion and rest by formulating definitions in such a way that they fit into a larger network of causal explanations.


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