SOURCE: Manekin, Charles H. “Logic, Science, and Philosophy in Gersonides.” In Studies on Gersonides, edited by Gad Freudenthal, pp. 285-303. Leiden, The Netherlands: E. J. Brill, 1992.

In the following essay, Manekin explains Gersonides's views on logic, particularly those ideas which run counter to Aristotle's understanding of the subject.

I. Introduction: Gersonides’ Logical Writings

The contributions of Levi ben Gershom (Gersonides) to the fields of science and philosophy are well-known, but his logical writings, though of some influence in the Middle Ages, have only begun to be studied. To these writings belong two major works: the Commentary on Logic (1322-1323), which is a supercommentary on the Middle Commentary of Averroes on the Aristotelian Organon,¹ and the Book of the Correct Syllogism (1319), an independent treatise on inference and modal logic.² With the exception of the first book of the Commentary on Logic, all these writings are extant in Hebrew only...