About the middle of the 16th century a formidable opposition to the authority of Aristotle sprang up at the University of Paris, under the leadership of Peter Ra- mus, a scholar of great natural acutenoss, and of an in- trepid, though somewhat arrogant spirit. He jmblished his Ins/if titumes Lialectica: in 1543. His system, found- ed with much ingenuity on the writings of Plato, not- withstanding violent opposition, prevailed so far as to greatly weaken the influence of the Aristotelian philos- ophy. The heads of the university, alarmed at this in- novation, made complaint against Ramus to Parliament. The king himself interl'ered, and appointed a public trial of the rival systems of logic. As might have been ex- pected, a majority of the judges favored the established system. Ramus was consequently ordered to desist from teaching, and an order passed for the suppression of his book. That order was subsequently removed, and Ra- mus again became popular as a teacher. He treated logic as merely the art of arguing, and \vas \cxy severe on the dry and tedious formalities of the schoolmen. His system embraced invention and proofs, and thus blended with rhetoric. In 1551, through the influence of the cardinal of Lorraine, Ramus became royal pro- fessor of rhetoric and philosophy, in which capacity he made many proselytes. Having adhered to the Hu- guenot party, he was killed in the massacre of St. Bar- tholomew. But he had already travelled and taught in Germany, where his system found no little favor. In Italy it secured a few disciples, but many more in France, England, and Scotland. Andrew jMelville int,rotUiccd the logic of Ramus at Glasgow, and it ultimately be- came popular in all the Scottish universities. The log- ical writings of the remainder of the IGth century, and somewhat later, were filled with the Ramist and anti- Ramist controversy, which, though of little permanent importance, doubtless prepared the way for a better com- prehension of the true principles and processes of logic in later periods.
LOGIC
490
LOGIC
In the 17th centurj' the writings of lord Bacon formed another e])och in the history of logic. See Bacon. Logic, according to lord Bacon, comprised the sciences of invention, judging, retaining, and delivering the con- cept i<iiis of tlie mind. We invent or discover new arts and arguments. "We judge hy induction or syllogism, and we may improve memory by artificial modes. The first book of the Xovum Orrjanum developed his celebra- ted and peculiar division of fallacies, viz. idola trihus, idola specus, ichlafuri, and idola theatri. The second book sought to apply the principles of induction to the interpretation of nature. Although, from a defective knowledge of natural phenomena incident to his times, the author's illustrations were far from perfect, and al- though many logicians have disputed the correctness of his principles, it cannot be questioned that the Baconian logic and method of study exerted a powerful influence upon his own and after times in stimulating thought and discovery. The remaining authors of the 17th century whose writings influenced the study and meth- ods of logic were Des Cartes, Arnauk', author of UA rt de Peiiser, and Locke, of England. Probably the most influential treatise on the direct subject was Arnaidd's ^4 )■/ of Thinking, commonly called the Port-Royal Logic. It attacked the Aristotelian system, and, being written in a modern language, had the advantage over the heavy Latinity of previous books. In this respect it became ail examjile to subsequent writers, who, from the begin- ning of the 18th century, were numerous if not influen- tial. But, with all that was written respecting it, the study of logic failed to command general attention. It had few attractions for the popular mind, and its special devotees were seldom able to place it in successful com- petition with philosophy, natural science, and general literature. Although prescribed in every system of aca- demic study, and at once the agency and topic of cease- less wrangling among professed scholars, yet its influ- ence upon human life and public opinion was infinitesi- mally small.
The limits of this article do not admit of a detailed notice of all the logicians and logical systems of modern times, but only of allusion to a few of the most influen- tial. In tJermany, more than in all other countries, the study of logic has within the last hundred years assumed new phases and developed new doctrines, more especial- ly in connection with the various s\'stems of idealistic philosophy. Of that philosophy Immanuel Kant [see Kant] maj^ be considered the inaugurator, and Ids first philosophical production commenced with the study of logic. As early as 17li2 he published a treatise on the '•False Subtlety of the Four Syllogistic Figures," in which he maintained that only the first is pure, and the others rutiucinia htjbrida. From this point he went on developing his system, till in 1781 he published his Krit- ik of Pure Reason, to which in 1790 he added his Kritik of ihf Judijmtnf. Kant claimed to have subjected the hiunan mind to a new analysis, from which he deter- minetl the three comprehensive functions of sense, un- derstanding, and reason. His general scheme is sum- med uj) as follows :
I. Dociiine of tlie transcendental elements of knowledge.
A. Transcendental a'sthetics. Jj. Transcendental loLiic.
a. Transcenilenlal analytics.
b. Transcendental dialectics.
II. The transcendental method.
Not to mention the numerous defenders and modifiers of the Kantian system, we ]iass to (1. AV. F. Hegel [see Hkcki.], the publication of whose U'iifscn.^c/Kift dcr Lor/ik in 181 2_ marks another epoch in German metajdiysics. Hegel emplo\'cd the term logic in a very extended sense. Not confining it to abstract forms of thought and the laws of ideas, he consiilered it the science of the self-sidlicient and self-determining idea — the science of truth and reality. From his fundamental principle that thought and substance are identical, it followed tiiat what is true of one is true also of the other, and that the laws of logic are ontologicaL His svstem claimed