This work surveys the major interpretations, ancient, medieval and modern, of Aristotle's "modal syllogistic". It presents a framework within which these competing interpretations are compared and evaluated. A new interpretation is developed, which agrees in large measure with Aristotle's text, including his theses, methods of proof, and use of examples. This interpretation reads Aristotle's modal sentences "de re", and attaches considerable importance to his use of ecthesis and counter-examples. It features a formal semantic analysis that makes no reference to possible worlds, and it articulates the links, both theoretical and genetic, between the modal syllogistic and Aristotle's essentialist metaphysics.
§0 Entering the Realm of Darkness.- One. Elementary Synta.- §1 Elementary forms.- §2 Modal opposition.- §3 Transformation rules: Substitution, Permutation, Reductio and Cut.- §4 Transformation rules: Contraction, Ecthesis.- §5 Transformation rules: modal reductio.- Two. Axioms.- §6 Axioms: X and L axioms.- §7 Axioms: Q axioms.- §8 Axioms: Q’, M and X’ axioms.- Three. Theses.- §9 Necessity moods.- §10 Unampliated contingency moods.- §11 Ampliated contingency moods.- §12 Possibility moods.- §13 ‘Unqualified’moods.- Four. Rejections.- §14 Necessity moods.- §15 Unampliated contingency moods.- §16 Ampliated contingency moods.- §17 Possibility and ‘unqualified’ moods.- Five. Flaws in the Fabric.- §18 Incidental mistakes.- §19 Substantial mistakes.- §20 Inconsistencies.- Six. System AL.- §21 Assertoric forms.- §22 Necessity forms.- §23 Adding C,K,U and T.- §24 Reduction to assertoric syllogistic.- §25 Alternative de re approaches: base.- §26 Alternative de re approaches: superstructure.- §27 Alternative approaches: de dicto theories.- Seven. Systems AQ and AQ’.- §28 Unampliated contingency-forms.- §29 Ampliated contingency-forms.- §30 The relation of ampliated to unampliated systems.- §31 Reduction to assertoric syllogistic.- §32 Alternative de re approaches.- §33 Alternative approaches: de dicto theories.- Eight. System AX’.- §34 Unqualified assertorics.- §35 System AX’.- §36 Reduction to assertoric syllogistic.- §37 A reprieve for modal reductio.- Nine. Singular Modal Syllogistic.- §38 System AEL5.- §39 Systems AEQ5 and AEQ’5.- §40 Alternative de re approaches.- §41 Reduction to assertoric syllogistic.- Ten. Essentialism.- §42 Varieties of essentialism.- §43 The essentialism of the modal syllogistic.- §44Aristotle’s static essentialism.- §45 Aristotle’s dynamic essentialism.- §46 The metaphysics of unqualified assertorics.- §47 Aristotelian vs. Platonic essentialism.- §48 Conclusions.- References and Indexes.- References.- Index locorum.- Index of axioms.- Index of rules.- Index of systems.- General index.