If scientific axioms are only conditionally necessary, as Boethius of Dacia's modal analysis of natural science implies, they fail Aristotle's own criterion in Posterior Analytics 71b12-16.
?Rate how convincing each reason is below to see the overall strength.
No one has weighed in yet. Be the first to share reasons for or against this statement.
Sign in or register to share your perspective on this statement.
"Posterior Analytics" is a work by the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle about how we gain knowledge through logical reasoning and proof. In it, Aristotle explains how we can be certain about facts by building arguments from basic truths we already accept, similar to how a math proof starts with simple facts and builds up to more complex ones. The book became foundational to Western thinking about how science and knowledge work.
Scientific axioms(what Boethius claims are only conditionally necessary)
Basic statements or principles in science that are assumed to be true without needing proof, like foundational starting points.
criterion(as used in philosophy to describe a test for whether an idea works)
A standard or rule used to decide whether something counts as true or valid.
modal analysis(Philosophy of ability and linguistic semantics)
The semantic view that ability ascriptions of the form 'S is able to A' are analyzed as possibility claims quantifying over possible worlds