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Organon

Aristotle,

Giorgio Colli (Editor)

3.97 · Rating details · 254 ratings · 19 reviews

Studiato e interpretato, parafrasato e commentato infinite volte, l’Organon (in greco «strumento») è il libro in cui la tradizione ha radunato gli scritti aristotelici che forniscono le cognizioni indispensabili per condurre qualsiasi tipo di indagine, ovvero che illustrano le regole e le tecniche necessarie per ben ragionare e argomentare. Il libro di logica per eccellenz ...more

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Paperback, Gli Adelphi, 1066 pages

Published 2003 by Adelphi (first published -40)

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Jun 16, 2017 Erick rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: ancient-hellenistic-philosophy, philosophy, peripatetics-aristotelianism

Getting through this book was a trial. I had set myself the task of doing it and I finally finished it.
The Organon comprises the Categories, On Interpretation, Prior Analytics, Posterior Analytics, Topics and On Sophistical Refutations--basically, Aristotle's complete works dedicated to logic. I admit that as pedantic and as dry as Aristotle has a tendency to be, this collection of works impressed me to a degree. Aristotle had an incredibly meticulous mind and he set a philosophical precedent w Getting through this book was a trial. I had set myself the task of doing it and I finally finished it.
The Organon comprises the Categories, On Interpretation, Prior Analytics, Posterior Analytics, Topics and On Sophistical Refutations--basically, Aristotle's complete works dedicated to logic. I admit that as pedantic and as dry as Aristotle has a tendency to be, this collection of works impressed me to a degree. Aristotle had an incredibly meticulous mind and he set a philosophical precedent with works like these. That being said, Aristotle isn't the most engaging writer. When a writer doesn't engage me, it's incredibly hard for me to stay focused on their subject matter. With this book I had to keep bringing my attention back and even re-read whole paragraphs when my mind started to drift--which was often.
Just to give an example of Aristotle's pedantry: he spends probably a quarter of the book--if not more--on syllogisms like A is all/some/none of B, but all/some/none of C, where one particular relationship is considered and then another, e.g. A is all of B, some of C but none of D. This kind of syllogism is explored to the point of nauseous tedium. When he explores the difference between substance and quality and how categorical definitions function, you seem to be in more practical territory. I think the portion dedicated to logical fallacies is probably the more interesting of what is treated here. Most of that is found in volume 6: On Sophistical Refutations.
Honestly, I probably should give a longer review because of how long the book was, but I didn't find it engaging enough to warrant the effort. I am giving the book a good review because, like I said above, it was a pioneering philosophical endeavor and essential Aristotle; and as far as works go that help set reasonable logical parameters for dialectic and discourse, it is to be recommended as a basic and preliminary text. I also have to commend the editor Roger Bishop Jones for his effort in preparing this particular edition. ...more

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Feb 23, 2014 Roy Lotz rated it liked it

Shelves: oldie-but-goodie, footnotes-to-plato

Aristotle continues to provoke conflicting reactions in me. I am always torn between realizing his tremendous originality and historical importance, and suffering from his extraordinary dullness. This book exemplifies both sides of the coin. Seeing a man single-handedly create the field of logic, ex nihilo, is tremendous; yet reading through these treatises could put a coffee-addict in a coma.

I am not insensitive to the appeals of philosophy. Far from it; I think reading philosophy is thrillin Aristotle continues to provoke conflicting reactions in me. I am always torn between realizing his tremendous originality and historical importance, and suffering from his extraordinary dullness. This book exemplifies both sides of the coin. Seeing a man single-handedly create the field of logic, ex nihilo, is tremendous; yet reading through these treatises could put a coffee-addict in a coma.

I am not insensitive to the appeals of philosophy. Far from it; I think reading philosophy is thrilling. Some of my most acute aesthetic experiences have been had contemplating some philosopher’s idea. Yet I have never had this reaction to Aristotle’s writings. Part of this is due to his formidable difficulty; another part, to the nature of the works (which, I must constantly remind myself, are lecture-notes).

Nevertheless, Aristotle had a prosaic mind; even when faced with the most abstract phenomena in the universe, his first reaction is to start parceling everything into neat categories, and to go on making lists and explanations of these categories. He does make logical arguments, but they are often brief, and almost as often unsatisfactory. Much of the time the student is faced with the dreary task of working his way through Aristotle’s system, simply because it is his system, and not because it is empirically or logically compelling.

(Every time I write a review for Aristotle, it comes out so disappointed. Let me try to be more positive.)

My favorite piece in this was the Posterior Analytics, which is a brilliant treatise on epistemology, logic, and metaphysics. Aristotle succinctly presents an entire theory of knowledge, and it’s incomparably more rigorous and detailed than anything Plato could have produced. I also particularly liked the Topics, as there we see Aristotle as a seasoned debater, in addition to a bumbling professor. Of course, there is much of strictly philosophic interest in this work as well; a particularly memorable problem is that of the future naval-battle.

For me, Aristotle is at his best when he is discussing the acquisition of knowledge. For Aristotle, whatever his faults, more perfectly embodied the love of knowledge than any other thinker in history. He wanted to know all; and, considering his historical limitations, he came damn near close. Us poor moderns have to content ourselves with either a mastery of one tiny slice of reality, or a dilettante acquaintance with all of it; Aristotle had the whole world at his fingertips.
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Sep 26, 2014 Giovanni Generoso rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: philosophy

Aristotle created logic. Literally.

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Jul 04, 2019 Feliks rated it liked it

Shelves: classic-history, philosophy-general

Another exhausting slog. Aristotle is my favorite philosopher and I rank this quite high for satisfaction; its a powerhouse of his thought; among his most robust. That being said, it is never chatty, chummy, or friendly. It isn't a comfortable book to curl up with. It is rather a book to ''confront' and 'undergo'. You subject yourself to it and (hopefully) come away the better for it. ...more

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Mar 31, 2018 Hunter Kinder is currently reading it

Categories and On Interpretation were a very solid foundation for the mundanity of Prior Analytics; which almost made Posterior Analytics a treat as it's much less stop and go and less filled with particularities of syllogisms and more about the general rules of predicate logic and conclusions that can be drawn from Prior Analytics.

Much of The Organon's content seems self evident as much of our society is structured on Aristotelian logic. Yet, the text must have been quite revolutionary in the ...more

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Aug 13, 2012 Athens rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Recommends it for: Anybody who wants to read Aristotle

Recommended to Athens by: Thomas Taylor, the Platonist

--

The book I am actually reading is Porphyry's Introduction, with preface by Thomas Taylor, which includes his translation of Proclus' preface.

This will require re-reading.

Unless you as a reader are a marvel of the civilized world in your very person, this material is not something you can simply read like a story.

It absolutely requires that if you are going to send any time AT ALL, you must, simply must, go over the text several times and from several directions in order to make any useful sen ...more

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Oct 14, 2015 Jeff rated it it was ok

Shelves: philosophy

I'm always reticent to even rate classics as my opinion really doesn't really matter. But I'm keeping a record of what I read on Goodreads so I suppose it's worthwhile to at least let my friends know what's worth their time and what is not. Aristotle is brilliant. And he basically invented the art of logic. If you have an interest in either of those then you might really enjoy the short writings that make up this work. But if you're not super interested in the historical development of logic the ...more

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Dec 07, 2013 Tonatiuh Dávila rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Libro clave para la comprensión no ya de la dialéctica aristotélica, sino de toda su epistemología. La dialéctica de Aristóteles es simplemente incomparable, como ejercicio traté de hacer contrademostraciones cada que discrepaba con él o creía encontrar huecos en sus demostraciones, siempre para darme cuenta cómo después de unos cuántos párrafos, Aristóteles no dejaba espacio para el error.

Libro bastante pesado, necesita tiempo y dedicación.

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Feb 26, 2016 Ahmed Farrag rated it liked it

Shelves: philosophy

I know that this is the most important book in the history of Logic, since it's the first systematic work on the subject, but because I have already been acquainted with much of what was in it, the experience was not as enjoyable, or as informative, as I would have wanted it to be. ...more

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Aug 07, 2017 Myles rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: the-classics

How to sort and organize shit, how language works. It's a 500 page rule book that hasn't aged well. Next time, try a Viennese phonebook from the '30s. ...more

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Mar 05, 2021 Jacob Aitken rated it really liked it

Shelves: analytic-philosophy, dialectic, hellenism, logic, well-educated-mind

Included within this larger work are several major treatises. Every critical thinker would do well to study “Categories,” “On Interpretation” and the first and last parts of “Topics.” Posterior Analytics is interesting while Prior Analytics is highly technical.

Categories is the intro text to Aristotle’s Metaphysics, or so said some essay from Plato.Stanford.Edu said. Good enough for me. It is short and clear. It also gives us the grammar for later Christian theology.

Some things are predicable of ...more

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Feb 20, 2018 Andrea rated it really liked it

Impressionante come Aristotele sia riuscito a costruire dei testi così minuziosi e completi per il tempo in cui sono stati scritti, sviscerando ogni singolo aspetto del linguaggio, dell'epistemologia e della retorica. L'Organon non è una lettura di piacere, è, bensì, rivolta a coloro che sono mossi dalla stessa sete di conoscenza che aveva Aristotele, pronti a discutere ogni singolo aspetto di un dato argomento, disposti a raggiungere la verità nel modo più efficace e perfetto possibile.
Sei sono Impressionante come Aristotele sia riuscito a costruire dei testi così minuziosi e completi per il tempo in cui sono stati scritti, sviscerando ogni singolo aspetto del linguaggio, dell'epistemologia e della retorica. L'Organon non è una lettura di piacere, è, bensì, rivolta a coloro che sono mossi dalla stessa sete di conoscenza che aveva Aristotele, pronti a discutere ogni singolo aspetto di un dato argomento, disposti a raggiungere la verità nel modo più efficace e perfetto possibile.
Sei sono gli scritti contenuti nel testo, e ciascuno di essi ha dato il proprio impulso allo sviluppo dei più disparati settori filosofici: impossibile prescindere la loro importanza in qualunque indagine specialistica o di alto livello, Aristotele è stato ed è tuttora un punto di riferimento fondamentale per coloro che vogliono imparare o costruire ragionamenti di alto livello.
Tuttavia, siate pronti, l'impostazione dei lavori è estremamente rigorosa e tanti concetti sono affrontati e discussi fino a risultare pedanti, il tedio è dietro l'angolo se proprio non siete interessati alle tematiche in questione (la logica, in sé, è una branca piuttosto arida che compete principalmente alle menti metodiche e allontana coloro che amano pensare liberamente).

Nelle Categorie Aristotele si ricollega alla sua metafisica. In tale testo, tutto ciò che esiste in quanto manifestazione dell'Essere è ricondotto alle dieci categorie. Si tratta del più breve tra i sei, ma non per questo il meno interessante.

Nel De Interpretatione il filosofo discute il linguaggio e la sua costruzione, soffermandosi in particolare sui concetti di "proposizione" e "giudizio". Il più interessante per coloro che si intendono di filosofia del linguaggio e di ermeneutica, queste branche della filosofia debbono molto a questo testo.

Negli Analitici primi Aristotele tratta del sillogismo, il metodo da lui elaborato che dovrebbe condurre a conoscenza certa. Nonostante sia il più importante tra i testi assieme al suo successore, gli Analitici secondi, ove invece il filosofo si occupa di epistemologia, è probabilmente il più noioso per coloro che sono avversi alla materia, giacché viene preso in esame ogni singolo caso con molto rigore ed astrazione. Più leggero il secondo testo, in cui Aristotele applica il sillogismo per elaborare delle tecniche dimostrative che conducano a conoscenza scientifica certa, e questo è sicuramente il più grande debito che la matematica ha nei confronti del filosofo.

Nei Topici Aristotele affronta la costruzione di forme di ragionamento valido, e anche in questo caso snocciola il più possibile ogni situazione, e per tale motivo è un testo che catturerà principalmente l'interesse dei logici più che degli appassionati.

Infine, nelle Confutazioni sofistiche Aristotele offre delle interessanti teorie sull'euristica e sulla retorica, occupandosi soprattutto di forme di ragionamento che paiono valide ma che, e in questo il filosofo è in sottesa polemica coi Sofisti, sono finalizzate esclusivamente a convincere l'avversario delle personali opinioni.

In conclusione, l'opera è importantissima ma ha bisogno di un pubblico veramente specializzato per essere apprezzata nella sua interezza. Nonostante questo, ognuno saprà trovare il proprio testo di riferimento e saprà goderne in giusta misura. ...more

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Aug 21, 2017 H.d. rated it really liked it · review of another edition

se existe um princípio da lógica ocidental é aqui. curiosamente atual em alguns aspectos e instigante pelas discordâncias que levanta (para mim ao menos). não tenho certeza se a tradução, principalmente de Categorias, foi feliz.

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Oct 17, 2019 Colm rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: abandoned, classics, philosophy

I really have very little good to say about this translation/edition. Utterly impenetrable in English and doubles down on this offence by containing printed passages of untranslated, unannotated Ancient Greek often in the middle of sentences. It didn’t cost much but God do I want that money back.

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Jul 06, 2020 Kamyar rated it really liked it · review of another edition

اُرگانون؛ به معنی ابزار و وسیله

اُرگانون ؛ نامی است که شاگردان ارسطو بر شش رساله از تألیفات او در علم منطق نهادند این رساله ها به شرح زیر میباشد:

۱-آناکاویک نخست
۲-آناکاویک دوم
۳-در پیرامون ابطالهای سوفیستی
۴-جایگاههای بحث
۵-مقوله ها
۶-در پیرامون گزارش

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Jan 15, 2018 Jawad rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: philosophy

عنوان مضلل -- هذا تحقيق لترجمات الفلاسفة العرب لمنطق ارسطو

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May 20, 2020 Suat Atan rated it really liked it

Eski kitapları okumak her zaman zordur ancak yine de kaç bin yıl geçmesine rağmen kendini okutuyor. Heyecan aramayın, ama bilgelik ve düşünme arıyorsanız buyrun. Bir günde okunabilir.

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Sep 26, 2019 Tiago Massoni rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Como o homem escrevia mal meu Deus!

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Dec 18, 2016 Zachary Rudolph rated it liked it · review of another edition

“Do not argue with every one, nor practise upon the man in the street: for there are some people with whom any argument is bound to degenerate. For against any one who is ready to try all means in order to seem not to be beaten, it is indeed fair to try all means of bringing about one’s conclusion: but it is not good form. Wherefore the best rule is, not lightly to engage with casual acquaintances, or bad argument is sure to result.”

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About Aristotle

Aristotle

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(Greece: Αριστοτέλης)
(Arabic: أرسطوطاليس)
(Bulgarian: Аристотел)
(Russian: Аристотель)
(Alternate European spelling: Aristoteles)

Aristotle (384–322 B.C.) numbers among the greatest philosophers of all time. Judged solely in terms of his philosophical influence, only Plato is his peer: Aristotle's works shaped centuries of philosophy from Late Antiquity through the Renaissance, and even today continue (Greece: Αριστοτέλης)
(Arabic: أرسطوطاليس)
(Bulgarian: Аристотел)
(Russian: Аристотель)
(Alternate European spelling: Aristoteles)

Aristotle (384–322 B.C.) numbers among the greatest philosophers of all time. Judged solely in terms of his philosophical influence, only Plato is his peer: Aristotle's works shaped centuries of philosophy from Late Antiquity through the Renaissance, and even today continue to be studied with keen, non-antiquarian interest. A prodigious researcher and writer, Aristotle left a great body of work, perhaps numbering as many as two-hundred treatises, from which approximately thirty-one survive. His extant writings span a wide range of disciplines, from logic, metaphysics and philosophy of mind, through ethics, political theory, aesthetics and rhetoric, and into such primarily non-philosophical fields as empirical biology, where he excelled at detailed plant and animal observation and taxonomy. In all these areas, Aristotle's theories have provided illumination, met with resistance, sparked debate, and generally stimulated the sustained interest of an abiding readership.

Because of its wide range and its remoteness in time, Aristotle's philosophy defies easy encapsulation. The long history of interpretation and appropriation of Aristotelian texts and themes—spanning over two millennia and comprising philosophers working within a variety of religious and secular traditions—has rendered even basic points of interpretation controversial. The set of entries on Aristotle in this site addresses this situation by proceeding in three tiers. First, the present, general entry offers a brief account of Aristotle's life and characterizes his central philosophical commitments, highlighting his most distinctive methods and most influential achievements. Second are General Topics which offer detailed introductions to the main areas of Aristotle's philosophical activity. Finally, there follow Special Topics which investigate in greater detail more narrowly focused issues, especially those of central concern in recent Aristotelian scholarship ...more