Walking towards Megara—Jan Łukasiewicz’ critique of Aristotle’s responses to opponents of the principle of non-contradiction

Holger Heine

In the first part of this presentation, I develop an account of several of the main objections against Aristotle’s principle of non-contradiction that played important parts in the debate at the time of Aristotle’s writing.  Then, I reconstruct the main arguments and claims of what I take to be Aristotle’s principal responses to these objections and challenges.

In the second part of the presentation, I turn to Jan Łukasiewicz’ interpretation of the debate between Aristotle and his opponents.  In particular, Łukasiewicz argues that Aristotle’s responses to the challenges brought against the PNC reveal an awareness of the weakness of Aristotle’s own position and result in a progressive retreat from the PNC as a universally valid principle of logic and metaphysics towards a much weaker and restricted claim in defense of non-contradiction.  In conclusion, I will offer a defense of Aristotle’s responses against Łukasiewicz’ criticism and show how a deeper understanding of the positions that challenged Aristotle’s account sheds new light on Aristotle’s overall project of a science of metaphysics and the principle
of non-contradiction.


Keywords: Aristotle, Łukasiewicz, Principle of Non-Contradiction, History of Philosophy