Comments on Matthew Minerd’s Essay (2019) "Thomism and the Formal Object of Logic"

By Razie Mah

Matthew K. Minerd Ph.D. considers the issue of ens rationis (mind-dependent being) through a sequence of vignettes, starting with Aristotle (5372-5452 U0’: Ubaid Zero Prime) and Avicenna (6780-6837), proceeding through Thomas Aquinas (7025-7074) and Hervaeus Natalis (7055-7123), and ending with Antoine Goudin (7439-7495). In 7819 U0’, he publishes “Thomism and the Formal Object of Logic” in the American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly.
The essay flows on two levels, the text and the footnotes. The footnotes begin by referencing recent books on social construction. For our current Lebenswelt, social construction creates cognitive spaces for sensible construction to operate.
In light of this, we may wonder, “Are these cognitive spaces true or false?”
This is where Aristotle and Avicenna start.
But, there is more to social construction than true versus false. There is also true versus deception.
This is where the formal object of logic dawns in the awareness. Social constructions are not merely true or false, they may also be honest or deceptive. Logic may assist in sorting this out.
But, there is another layer, since true and honest may lead to catastrophic results.
The path is set for researching the historical development of an increasingly lucid definition of the nature of logic, as the science of objectivity transforming into intersubjectivity.
Minerd’s research includes the laborious translation of Latin texts. Bless him for that. Now, the time has come to play.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Razie Mah
• Release date: Jun 22, 2019
• ISBN: 9781942824756

Razie Mah

See website for bio.

Book preview

Comments on Matthew Minerd’s Essay (2019) Thomism and the Formal Object of Logic

By Razie Mah

Published for Smashwords.com

2019

Notes on Text

This work comments on an article by Matthew K. Minerd Ph.D., appearing in 2019 in the American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly. The title is Thomism and the Formal Object of Logic. Thomism is a scholastic tradition. The science of logic is the topic of interest. My goal is to examine this work using the category-based nested form and other relational models within the tradition of Charles Peirce.

‘Words that belong together’ are denoted by single quotes or italics.

Prerequisites: A Primer on the Category-Based Nested Form, A Primer on Sensible and Social Construction

Recommended: Comments on Paul Cobley’s Essay (2108) Human Understanding: The Key Triad, Comments on John Deely’s Book (1994) New Beginnings

Table of Contents

The End Writes the Beginning

The Beginning Writes the End

The Base

Aquinas and the Ontological Status of That Slippery Thing

Provoking Hervaeus Natalis

Brushing in the Details

A Final Note

The End Writes the Beginning

0001 Minerd’s essay flows on two levels, the text and the references. The references anchor the text, both literally (there are 116 of them) and aesthetically (by marking the text with a separate commentary and indicators). The dual mode reminds me of high-end presentation software. I will use references as landmarks.

The end of the article is telling. The conclusion contains a summary, which I um… summarize.

0002 Two conceptions of logic are apparent for the 1200s and 1300s. One conceives of logic in terms of language and grammar. The other examines logic as the science of second intentions. Obviously, the latter is more real, because it treats logic as real (as opposed to a social artifact). Logic belongs to the category of relational beings. The Latin term is ens (being) rationis (involving ratios, rational, calculating).

0003 What is a