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Richard Whately And The Revival Of Syllogistic Logic In Great Britain In The Early Nineteenth Century, Calvin Jongsma

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Richard Whately's Elements of Logic in 1826 marked the end of a dismal era in the history of British logic. His work sparked a revival in Britain, culminating in several distinct developments, none of which, however, Whately contributed to. Yet his work laid the foundation for them by providing a spirited defense of the syllogism and of deductive reasoning generally.

The first chapter begins with a systematic synopsis of the criticisms and responses which were made from the seventeenth to the early nineteenth century. These related primarily to the nature of logic and the epistemic utility of syllogistic reasoning, but …