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Friday, July 29, 2011

Aristotle & Me

I've been thinking about Aristotle lately. Perhaps a neuron woke up in the good old college days & the challenge of philosophy classes. 

I was first thinking about taking "Ethics" & Aristotle's idea that the way to walk life would be down the golden mean - neither too far to the right nor too far to the left. I like this a lot & have been moderate in my life, sometimes. I have had moments of great passion too --- so it hasn't been the golden mean the whole way for me. But, for the most part, I think it is good advice.

But then I was thinking about Aristotelian Logic vs Modern Logic --- took the logic class too. I had an epiphany this week. Our crazy world operates primarily under the good old Aristotle way and has not adopted Modern Logic.

In Modern Logic you have to prove your premise before you continue.

In Aristotelian Logic, you state a premise that seems reasonable to you, add proofs & conclusions based on your premise, but you never have to prove your premise. The classic example might be one of his ideas about women. Premise: women have fewer teeth than men. Proof: women are smaller than men, women are weaker than men, women eat less than men, etc. therefore, women have fewer teeth than men. Not needing to prove the premise, no one ever counted the actual teeth in the heads of men & women.

Now this may seem ridiculous ---- but just how many things are decided this way in this day & age? Look at government. Look at the news. Look at education. See what I mean?

Perhaps our "leaders" need a refresher course in Modern Logic.

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