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Argumentative Theory of Reason) Perspective WINING AND DINING* A Re-examination and Reinterpretation of the Records of the Presocratics and Earlier from an ATR (Argumentative Theory of Reason) Perspective The development of reasoning in Greece in the form of “devising and evaluating arguments intended to persuade” Greg Armfield * A fifth-century B.C. Attic kylix (drinking cup) from the Berlin State Museum, showing guests at a symposium drinking wine. Submitted for the degree of Masters of Arts in Philosophy Department of Philosophy University of Canterbury 2017 ABSTRACT Aristotle was the founder of logic. He said that there was nothing like it earlier. Interpretations of the records of the presocratics from a classical theory of reasoning (CTR) perspective give the ‘traditional account’ of the development of ‘Greek rationalism’. That is, an account of the Greeks becoming better at discovering the world through a process of forward inference: ratiocination. The recent argumentative theory of reason (ATR) of Sperber and Mercier provides an alternative perspective through which to interpret, or reinterpret these same records. According to the theory, the main function of reasoning is the devising and evaluating of arguments intended to persuade. This suggests a process of backward inference in order to support ideas that have arisen intuitively or in some other way. In applying this new perspective to the records, the result is that the Greeks did develop as reasoners, but more in the ATR sense until Plato. That is, the Greeks, over time, became better at devising and evaluating arguments, which were then used to support their ideas and speculations. Together these ideas and their supporting arguments became the theories the Greeks are known for. In other words, the Greeks developed first as rational persuaders with a variety of physical ideas and speculations about the world. At some point in the development, the Greeks recognised what it is to reason and its utility in the context of the law courts and the political assembly. Over a period of time, they came to understand, formalise and teach and learn the ways and methods of reasoning in the ATR sense. Once this was understood, there is evidence that it was then consciously and deliberately applied in attempts to discover the world through the process of forward inference. This all occurred well before Aristotle. To conclude, there was not nothing at all before Aristotle. He systematised what had already been formalised in coming up with logic. But formalised methods of reasoning, both ATR and CTR, were needed in order to do this. Contents 1.0 THE INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Preamble ............................................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 The development of logic ................................................................................................................... 2 1.3 Aristotle’s explanation of discoveries and development ............................................................... 2 1.4 There was nothing at all before logic ................................................................................................ 4 1.5 Aristotle’s syllogism ............................................................................................................................ 4 1.6 Aristotle’s demonstration ................................................................................................................... 6 1.7 Demonstration guarantees knowledge............................................................................................. 7 2.0 THE QUESTIONS .................................................................................................................................... 9 2.1 The first question ................................................................................................................................. 9 2.2 The second question .......................................................................................................................... 10 3.0 THE APPROACH .................................................................................................................................. 12 4.0 THE TRADITIONAL ACCOUNT ....................................................................................................... 15 5.0 THE RECENT THEORIES .................................................................................................................... 17 5.1 Cultural change and cultural evolution ......................................................................................... 17 5.2 The argumentative theory of reasoning ......................................................................................... 19 5.2.a The classical theory of reasoning (CTR) .................................................................................. 19 5.2.b The argumentative theory of reasoning .................................................................................. 21 5.3 Conscious cognition theories ........................................................................................................... 24 6.0 THE REINTERPRETATION AND EXPECTATIONS ...................................................................... 28 6.1 Variation ............................................................................................................................................. 28 6.2 Selection .............................................................................................................................................. 29 6.3 Transmission ...................................................................................................................................... 33 6.4 The reasons ......................................................................................................................................... 33 6.5 The arché .............................................................................................................................................. 34 6.6 The expectations ................................................................................................................................ 35 6.7 Summary ............................................................................................................................................. 36 7.0 THE MYTHOLOGISTS AND MIXED-THEOLOGIANS ................................................................. 37 7.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 37 7.2 The arché—Hesiod’s Theogony .......................................................................................................... 37 7.3 Arguments justifying actions in Homer ......................................................................................... 38 7.4 Arguments justifying actions in Hesiod’s Work and Days ............................................................ 39 7.5 How to farm ....................................................................................................................................... 40 7.6 Argument from probability in the Hymn to Hermes ...................................................................... 41 7.7 New type of explanation of the mixed-theologians...................................................................... 41 7.8 Semi-physical explanations .............................................................................................................. 42 8.0 THE MILESIANS ................................................................................................................................... 43 8.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 43 8.2 Thales of Miletus (c.624-c.546) ......................................................................................................... 43 8.2.a Thales’ arché—All is water ......................................................................................................... 44 8.2.b The earth rests on water ............................................................................................................ 44 8.2.c The soul produces motion ......................................................................................................... 45 8.2.d All things are full of gods .......................................................................................................... 46 8.2.e Other Thalean ideas .................................................................................................................... 46 8.3 Anaximander of Miletus (c.610-c.546) ............................................................................................ 47 8.3.a The arché is apeiron ...................................................................................................................... 47 8.3.b The arché cannot be water or any of the four elements ......................................................... 47 8.3.c Things come to be by separation .............................................................................................. 48 8.3.d The apeiron is divine ..................................................................................................................
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