Organon

This article is about Aristotle's works on logic. For a discussion of Aristotelian logic as a system, see Term logic. For other uses, see Organon (disambiguation).

Organon
Roman copy in marble of a Greek bronze bust of Aristotle by Lysippos, c. 330 BC, with modern alabaster mantle

The Organon (Ancient Greek: Ὄργανον, meaning "instrument, tool, organ") is the standard collection of Aristotle's six works on logical analysis and dialectic. The name Organon was given by Aristotle's followers, the Peripatetics, who maintained against the Stoics that Logic was "an instrument" of Philosophy.[1]

Aristotle never uses the title Organon to refer to his logical works. The book, according to M. Barthélemy St. Hilaire, was not called "Organon" before the 15th century, and the treatises were collected into one volume, as is supposed, about the time of Andronicus of Rhodes; and it was translated into Latin by Boethius about the 6th century.[1]

The six works of Organon are as follows:

Bekker
number 		Work Latin name
Logic
Organon
1a Categories Categoriae
16a On Interpretation De Interpretatione
24a Prior Analytics Analytica Priora
71a Posterior Analytics Analytica Posteriora
100a Topics Topica
164a On Sophistical Refutations De Sophisticis Elenchis


  1. ^ a b Owen, Octavius Freire (1853). "Introduction". The Organon, Or Logical Treatises, of Aristotle. With the Introduction of Porphyry. Vol. 1. Aristotle. H.G. Bohn.