The Logic of Abelard

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The importance of Pierre Abelard’s position in the history of logic has been stressed by the editions of the Glasse Letterali edited 2 by M. Dal Pral, of the Dialectica edited by De Rijk , and, more recently by the publication of two texts which Minio Paluello 3 attributes to the Palatine Master. The interest of students in the writings of Abelard is further stimulated by considering the time in which he lived, a strategic point in the history of mediaeval logic; also by the echo of the fame in which his contemporaries had cloaked him, and by his own vivacious and rampant personality. The historical humus which nourished and fired the polemic that makes the Palatine Master’s pages so personal and noteworthy is not yet completely known to us, and Geyer has already pointed out the difficulty of satisfactorily understanding the logical position of Abelard before being familiar with the contemporary glossary materia.4 This material, judging by the information supplied to us by John of Salisbury and by the actual words of our subject, who tells us of numerous discussions and frequently refers to the ‘sen- tentiae’ of'quidam’ which give a different interpretation ofthe Aristo- telian or Boetian passages, turned out to be of considerable weight.