Aristotele - Logica Disputatio - 1693

ARISTOTLE'S GEOMETRIES: ILLUSTRATED MANUSCRIPT IN FRANCE UNDER THE SUN KING
This fascinating French manuscript from 1693 constitutes a rare material testimony to the European philosophical development at the end of the 17th century. Written in Latin and devoted to the deepening of logic, it documents the path of philosophical thought before the advent of the Enlightenment. Its importance lies not only in the theoretical content, but also in the exceptional manuscript graphical apparatus that translates abstract concepts into figures, diagrams, and visual schemes of great effectiveness. In an era when the Aristotelian-scholastic tradition was beginning to confront the ideas of Descartes and of the new science, this volume shows how knowledge continued to be transmitted through disputations, demonstrations, and rigorous logical structures. It is a document of extraordinary interest for the history of education, philosophy, and French Jesuit culture.
REASONS FOR COLLECTING
* Original dated and localized philosophical manuscript.
* Rare testimony to the development of logic in 17th-century France.
* Presence of figurative logical diagrams and manuscript didactic apparatus.

MARKET VALUE
17th-century philosophical manuscripts are today significantly rarer than contemporary printed manuals, since most copies used in universities have dispersed. The presence of original logical diagrams and precise dating markedly increases the collecting interest of the volume. Similar exemplars appear with relative rarity on the international antique market and can typically be valued between €2,500 and €4,000, with higher values possible if the college, the teacher, or the academic context of provenance can be identified with certainty.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION AND CONDITION
Latin manuscript on paper. 284 pages handwritten. Agen (France), 1693. Original full stiff parchment binding. Numerous logical diagrams and instructional figures inserted in the text. Paper uniformly browned with stains and occasional ink smudges. Authentic, complete, and well preserved copy. In old books and manuscripts with a centuries-long history, some imperfections may be present, not always noted in the description. This listing contains AI Views. Refer to the original photographs to verify the actual condition of the object. Images are an integral part of the description.

FULL TITLE AND AUTHOR
Logic. Disputatio Proemialis.
Anonymous Latin manuscript.
Agen, France, 1693.
284 pages handwritten.

CONTEXT AND SIGNIFICANCE
The Disputatio Proemialis is the typical scholastic form of philosophical debate between the 16th and 17th centuries.
The structure generally follows a very precise scheme:
Quaestio (the question)
The problem to be discussed is formulated, for example: "An logica sit scientia?" ("Is logic a science?").
Definitiones
The fundamental terms of the issue are precisely defined.
Distinctiones
The necessary distinctions are introduced to avoid ambiguities and clarify the meaning of concepts.
Argumenta pro
Arguments in favor of a given thesis are set out.
Argumenta contra
Objections and opposing theses are presented.
Responsio o Determinatio
The correct solution to the question is postulated.
Solutio Objectionum
One-by-one answers to the objections previously formulated.

Logic formed the foundation of all European philosophical training. Here we find the rules of correct reasoning through the study of Aristotelian categories, propositions, and syllogisms. This manuscript documents this philosophical path at a crucial stage in the history of European thought, when the scholastic tradition continued to dominate, yet faced the innovations introduced by Cartesian philosophy. Of particular interest is the famous scheme of the square of oppositions, which visualizes the relationships between universal and particular, affirmative and negative propositions, making easily comprehensible otherwise complex concepts. The work thus represents a precious testimony to the philosophy of the Grand Siècle.

BIOGRAPHY OF THE TRADITION
The logical tradition represented here has its roots in Aristotle’s Organon and the great medieval commentators. Through European universities and religious colleges, particularly the Jesuit ones, Aristotelian logic became the common language of Western erudite culture. Even at the end of the 17th century, when Descartes’ ideas and the scientific revolution began to transform the European intellectual landscape, philosophical training continued to rest on the disputation, definition, and demonstration method inherited from scholasticism.

MANUSCRIPT HISTORY AND CIRCULATION
Dated 1693 and localized in Agen, an important cultural center in southwestern France, the manuscript appears destined for a deeper study of Aristotle’s philosophy. The accuracy of the writing, the rigorous structure of the disputes, and the quality of the diagrams suggest a superior culture. Many similar manuscripts disappeared during the 18th century, progressively replaced by printed manuals. The survival of a complete and illustrated exemplar such as the present one is therefore particularly significant.

CONTEXT OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS
The diagrams in the volume are one of the most fascinating elements of the work. They belong to the long tradition of the figurae logicalae developed in the Middle Ages and perfected in modern scholastic teaching. Through geometric constructions, conceptual trees, and schemes of opposition, these images transformed abstract reasoning into a visually immediate representation. These pedagogical tools anticipate, in some respects, modern information visualization techniques and testify to the importance given to visual memory in the philosophical education of the classical age.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES
Prantl, Carl von, Geschichte der Logik im Abendlande, vol. IV, Leipzig, 1870, pp. 1-385.
Kneale, William – Kneale, Martha, The Development of Logic, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1962, pp. 229-307.
Ashworth, E. J., Language and Logic in the Post-Medieval Period, Dordrecht, Reidel, 1974.
Lohr, Charles H., Latin Aristotle Commentaries, Renaissance Authors, Firenze, Olschki, vari voll.
Ong, Walter J., Ramus, Method and the Decay of Dialogue, Cambridge (MA), Harvard University Press, 1958.
Brockliss, Laurence, French Higher Education in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries, Oxford University Press, 1987.
Delumeau, Jean, La civilisation de la Renaissance et de l'âge classique, Paris, Arthaud, 1967.
Catalogue général des manuscrits des bibliothèques publiques de France, Paris, Imprimerie Nationale, vari voll.
Compayré, Gabriel, Histoire critique des doctrines de l'éducation en France, Paris, Hachette, 1883.
Lukács, Ladislaus, Monumenta Paedagogica Societatis Iesu, Roma, Institutum Historicum Societatis Iesu, vari voll.
ICCU – OPAC SBN, repertori manoscritti e cataloghi storici francesi relativi alla produzione scolastica e filosofica del XVII secolo.