Formalizing medieval logical theories. Suppositio, consequentiae and obligationes (Q2464128)

Modern writers have commonly taken the medieval theory of supposition to be comparable to the modern theory of reference (input, linguistic expressions; output, things and facts in the world). Dutilh Novaes's formalisation of William of Ockham's theory of supposition takes it as having been rather an algorithmic hermeneutics (input, linguistic expressions; output, various readings of those expressions). This is much more successful. Her account of John Buridan's notion of consequentia shows that he was aware of many of the interactions between context and language which moderns are beginning to explore with two-dimensional semantics, and that his token-based concept of inferring may be of interest to other modern investigations. Her account of the medieval formal investigations known as obligationes and of the development of their rules from Walter Burley through Roger Swyneshed to Ralph Strode, takes them as comparable to modern logical dialogue games, specifically those directed at consistency maintenance. The book concludes with a careful philosophical analysis of formalisation and its conceptual neighbours, and its use in bridging what appear to be incommensurabilities between distinct traditions or paradigms. The book convincingly makes sense in modern terms of a number of medieval discussions, and shows that so construed they have direct relevance to various issues in logic today, and have much to teach us.