Abstract

This thesis, Dante's Art of Reason: A Study of Medieval Logic and Semantics in the Monarchy, examines Dante's use of logic in his political treatise, the Monarchy. The thesis presents the formal elements of medieval logic and semantics, as well as historical and theoretical background, as it pertains to Dante's usage. ;The thesis consists of an introduction, three chapters, a conclusion and bibliography. The introduction presents the subject of logic as Dante would have known it: as part of the medieval trivium studied at school and university: Dialectic. Previous scholarship and the reason for undertaking a new study follow. The texts that Dante would have known and were sources for this study are given: the logical texts of the 'old logic' and the 'new' ; Aristotle's logical corpus; Peter of Spain's Tractatus; and textbooks on logic from the eleventh and twelfth centuries. ;Chapter 1 discusses Book I, observing that Dante's text stems from a dialectical tradition. An introduction into the nature of inference, medieval argument forms, and Aristotelian term logic follows. The section, 'syncategorematic terms', examines the semantic theories of the thirteenth century to explain Dante's use of the 'exponible' terms solum and nullum preter. This is the first time the connection between Dante's usage and the theoretical basis of these terms has been made. ;Chapter 2 treats Book II, placing it within the context of the theories on consequential inference . To do so, propositional logic is introduced and Augustine's use of conditional propositions is given as an example. Dante's use of the conditional in chapter x, is explicated. The treatises on consequences have not been considered before in relation to Dante's argumentative procedure. ;Chapter 3 examines Book III and Dante's familiarity with Aristotelian fallacies as presented in the Tractatus and medieval textbooks. Semantic concepts from terminist theory are explained. ;The conclusion indicates possible future research with the subject, particularly as regards the Convivio and the Comedy. A selected bibliography is supplied