In case my sarcasm in writing "I was totally thinking the same thing" was overlooked, let it be noted that it was undoubtedly there. JL's conclusion would never have occurred to me in a bazillion years, primarily because I've never heard of this "Square of Opposition". Until now. Learn something new every day. Merci :) Erin ----- Original Message ----- From: <Jlsperanza@xxxxxxx> To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Friday, August 06, 2004 11:46 PM Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: [lit-ideas] Le Pesanteur et la Grâce > We are considering S. Weil's assertion in _Le Pesanteur et la Grâce" > > > > "The demonstrable correlation of opposites is an image of the > > > transcendental > > > correlation of contradictories." > > E. Holder writes: > > >I was totally thinking the same thing. > >What Weil must have in mind is > >Aristotle's Square of Opposition. > >It's the Square-of-Opposition-thing. > > Note that the expression, "Square of Opposition", though common, does not > seem to be too ancient -- the OED has quotes from 1864 and 1891. I.e. nothing > 'classical'. The minor problem here is that for Aristotle, 'contradictories' > _are_ opposites, so _opposition_ (in 'square of opposition') means something > more _general_ than 'contradiction'. The Square was well known in France and it > may well have been the source for Weil's assertion under consideration. > > There are ways of conceiving opposition and contradiction which are _not_ > Aristotelian (notably Platonic) and thus, less 'square'. Weil may be having that > in mind, too (For Plato, it's the thesis and the antithesis, rather). > > Cheers, > > JL > > 'Square of Opposition' (from the OED) > > > Logic. A square diagram used to illustrate the four kinds of logical > opposition. > > 1864. Bowen Logic vi 168 > > That the various points in the doctrine of this sort of Immediate Inference > might be more easily remembered, the old logicians contrived..the > accompanying ingenious diagram, which may be called the Square of Opposition. > > 1891 Pall Mall G. 5 May 2/2 It is a logical square, and its squareness is > supposed to carry some metaphysical virtue. > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------ > To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, > digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html > ------------------------------------------------------------------ To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html