CFP: Dialectic and Aristotle's Logic

Aristotle’s logic is often treated as though it falls into two quite distinct parts: the deductive syllogistic system, discussed in the Prior and Posterior Analytics and the dialectical system, discussed in the Topics and Sophistical Refutations. Each of these parts has received sustained, independent attention: logicians have done much to articulate the structure of Aristotle’s syllogistic, while commentators have seen Aristotle’s dialectic as key to his whole philosophical enterprise.   

This conference aims to examine the (putative) dialectical grounding for Aristotle’s logical theories in general (in particular, but not exclusively, syllogistic), and thus to emphasize the coherence and continuity of his logical writings by taking multi-agent dialogical interactions such as dialectic as the founding concept.  

Call for Papers  We will have a number of slots for contributed papers. Contributions may address the following themes, among others:

• The pragmatic context of Aristotle’s syllogistic   
• Game-theoretic construals of Aristotle’s logic
• Aristotle’s account of fallacies
• Dialectic in the Organon (including the Categories andOn Interpretation) 
• Dialogical readings of Aristotle's logic by ancient and (Latin and Arabic) medieval commentators

We invite submissions from scholars at all levels (graduate students, junior and senior researchers). Please submit abstracts of up to 1000 words (in PDF format) by March 15th 2013 to rootsofdeduction 'at' gmail.com. Abstracts should be prepared for blind review. Notification of acceptance will be sent by April 15th.