Excerpt from Aristotle, the Categories on Interpretation, And, Prior Analytics With an eye to the English reader, who knows, perhaps, little of logic and less in that case of Aristotle's, I have tried in translating these texts to bring out the philosopher's meaning as clearly as was in my power. How far I have succeeded in doing so, provided I interpret it rightly, the reader alone can determine. I cannot, in consequence, pretend that I literally translate the Greek, where it seemed that a literal translation would fail to achieve this main purpose. Some scholars may ossibly object that at times I paraphrase Aristotle. T can in that case only plead that a more or less intelligible paraphrase does convey something to the reader, unlike strict adherence to the letter. More over, a literal translation might often repel English readers and read like some alien jargon, as well as in all probability demanding rather copious notes, which are foreign from the scope of this series. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

The "Posterior Analytics" is a text from Aristotle's Organon that deals with demonstration, definition, and scientific knowledge. The demonstration is distinguished as a syllogism productive of scientific knowledge, while the definition marked as the statement of a thing's nature, ... a statement of the meaning of the name, or of an equivalent nominal formula. In the "Prior Analytics", syllogistic logic is considered in its formal aspect; in the Posterior it is considered in respect of its matter. The "form" of a syllogism lies in the necessary connection between the premises and the conclusion. Even where there is no fault in the form, there may be in the matter, i.e. the propositions of which it is composed, which may be true or false, probable or improbable. When the premises are certain, true, and primary, and the conclusion formally follows from them, this is demonstration, and produces scientific knowledge of a thing. Such syllogisms are called apodeictical, and are dealt with in the two books of the Posterior Analytics. When the premises are not certain, such a syllogism is called dialectical, and these are dealt with in the eight books of the Topics. A syllogism which seems to be perfect both in matter and form, but which is not, is called sophistical, and these are dealt with in the book On Sophistical Refutations. Aristotle (384 BC – 322 BC) was a Greek philosopher, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. He wrote on many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, politics, government, ethics, biology and zoology. Together with Plato and Socrates (Plato's teacher), Aristotle is one of the most important founding figures in Western philosophy. He was the first to create a comprehensive system of Western philosophy, encompassing morality and aesthetics, logic and science, politics and metaphysics. Aristotle's views on the physical sciences profoundly shaped medieval scholarship, and their influence extended well into the Renaissance, although they were ultimately replaced by modern physics. In the biological sciences, some of his observations were only confirmed to be accurate in the nineteenth century. His works contain the earliest known formal study of logic, which were incorporated in the late nineteenth century into modern formal logic. In metaphysics, Aristotelianism had a profound influence on philosophical and theological thinking in the Islamic and Jewish traditions in the Middle Ages, and it continues to influence Christian theology, especially Eastern Orthodox theology, and the scholastic tradition of the Roman Catholic Church. All aspects of Aristotle's philosophy continue to be the object of active academic study today. -Wikipedia

For many centuries, Aristotle's Physics was the essential starting point for anyone who wished to study the natural sciences. Now, in the first translation into English since 1930, Aristotle's thought is presented accurately, with a lucid introduction and extensive notes to explain the general structure of each section of the book, and shed light on particular problems. It simplifies and expands the style of the original, making for easier reading and better comprehension.