ARISTOTLE'S WORLD

An Interactive Tutorial in Aristotelian Logic
Claus Brillowski

Welcome

This is an interactive tutorial on Aristotelian logic - a philosophical logic designed to handle incomplete information and conflicting perceptions.
Unlike mathematical logic, Aristotelian logic does not require complete knowledge of the world. It is paraconsistent: contradictions do not cause everything to explode into nonsense. Instead, they signal that more information is needed.
This tutorial is based on the preprint "An Algebraic Model of Aristotelian Logic" available on ResearchGate:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/404947270
This preprint contains the Syntax and a formal semantics based on domain theory, a branch of theoretical computer science. Here, we focus exclusively on the syntactic rules and their interactive exploration.

Tutorial Contents

Work through the chapters in order. Each builds on the previous one.
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  • Preface
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  • Why Aristotelian logic? The difference between mathematical and philosophical truth. The bent stick example. Paraconsistency .
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  • Chapter 1 - Predicates and Individuals
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  • Building a world: predicates, individuals, and the “tabula rasa” of partial knowledge.
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  • Chapter 2 - The Four Judgment Forms
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  • A, E, I, O: the four categorical judgments. Symmetry and asymmetry. The tensor model. First inferences: subalternation and Barbara.
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  • Chapter 3 - Aristotelian Deduction Rules
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  • Barbara, Celarent, Darii, Ferio, Baroco, Bocardo. Transitive closure. The fixed point as deductive closure.
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  • Chapter 4 - The Square of Judgments and Fixedpoints
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  • Subalternation, contrariety, subcontrariety, contradiction. How the square and fixedpoints work together. Outlook at Semantics.
  • How to Use This Tutorial

    There are three ways to use this tutorial.
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    First, you can use it interactively in the browser via the Wolfram Cloud. In this mode, the tutorial is designed for interactive exploration through sliders, buttons, and built-in examples. You do not need Mathematica installed for this.
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    Second, if you have a Mathematica license, you can use the tutorial as intended for direct code work: open the notebooks in your own Wolfram Cloud account or in Mathematica Desktop, modify the code, and evaluate input cells with Shift+Enter.
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    Third, you can work directly with the ArTensorLogic.wl package and its API. You can download the package from the supplementary material on ResearchGate and use it independently of the tutorial notebooks.
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    Currently only light mode is supported.

    Start Here

    Begin with the Preface, then work through Chapters 1-4 in order.
    >> Start with the Preface