Protasis and Apophansis in Aristotle’s logic

Abstract

This essay examines how Aristotle creates propositions. It evaluates his use of quality and quantity in his theory of syllogism. In De Interpretatione, Aristotle used the term, ‘apophansis’, but he preferred ‘protasis’ in Analytica Priora. While Aristotle classified these as affirmative and negative due to their qualities, he embraced a different point of view about classifications based on quantity. Differences in apophansis are evaluated on the basis of their singular and universal structures, and their predications are also taken into consideration. As he studied protasis, however, he re-arranged the classifications of apophansis and re-shaped them according to their predicative properties. The structural difference between De Interpretatione and Analytica Priora are revealed through a careful examination of Aristotle’s use of these two concepts.