AL-MUKHATABAT ISSN 1737—6432 ISSUE 08/2013 Page 9 SOME REMARKS ON SYLLOGISTIC, DIALECTIC, AND THE STUDY OF THEIR HISTORY 1 Mathieu Marion (Université du Québec à Montréal) Abstract : In this paper, I argue that one should approach the study of Ancient Logic, Greek, Medieval and Arabic through a better understanding of the relation between dialectic and syllogistic. No claims are made about these, however, except concerning Aristotle and the invention of syllogistic. Numerous defects of the early a-historical study of syllogistic by Łukasiewicz in terms of axiomatic systems are presented in section 2, that show its inappropriateness. It is further argued that a proper consideration of the context of Prior Analytics shows that it involved the common practice of dialectical games, a characterization of which, in terms of game semantics, is provided in section 3. In the concluding remarks, the interest of this new approach is illustrated by explaining aspects of Prior Analytics that had been hitherto left unexplained.  املخص ا جب عسبا أطض ا أىاى  نااه ض الكد اميطل دزاض مكازب ا ألي مفاد احاطس اد لفا الدزاضر ج ي ضأحاج اس الك ىظس بن اجدلنلكات اقالعاات ل التأ افضلقا مىطا ا ته ت ا. أىاقض ل ات تلو اميطكه عل احهف ل ض ل بازضطتعل ىكاطا تا ا. تضفناش ل مكازبخاصب ا العد نبر م عدب عل التعككع  الدزاضر  ملثاى ي الكطه ا لغر مياضب اااز طابع اظمانطيطل اد ال ي حدتازخلا ا. ىت اأاتحلم الا اخر ضف ااز ن باظو بالتال اق نقراح تعالث با الثو ي اجصث أق ح اميتصست اجدلمياقصا ا مازض تلعب ناىتز الر الدن اهصف ع عتبازا با لعاب اها شهل ميت ها عل. خاصد ابعاا ذلو بتفطر بعض ا د اجدمكازب ار مثل م بسضه اجدخاصو ا تك تفطر أدىل بد قبسنت م الي ت ىت اأاتحل بال. Résumé Dans ce texte, j‟argumente en faveur de la thèse selon laquelle l‟étude de la logique ancienne, grecque, médiévale, et arabe doit être approchée à partir d‟une meilleure interprétation des relation entre dialectique et syllogistique. Je ne dis cependant rien de ces logiques, et ne fait valoir des points qu‟à propos d‟Aristote. De nombreux défauts de l‟approche anhistorique de Łukasiewicz, en termes de système axiomatique, sont présentés dans la section 2, pour en montrer le caractère inapproprié. Par la suite, je montre que la prise en compte du contexte des Analytiques premiers montre l‟importance du rôle joué par la pratique répandue des joutes dialectiques, dont une caractérisation en termes de sémantique des jeux est proposée dans la section 3. La conclusion illustre l‟intérêt de cette nouvelle approche en expliquant des aspects des Analytiques premiers laissés auparavant inexpliqués. 1 This paper is based on a lecture at a workshop on Arabic Logic in Medieval Philosophy, the Université de Kairouan, in April 2013. I would like to thank the organiser, Hamdi Mlika for his kind invitation. The paper is a sort of interim report on collaborative work with Benoît Castelnérac (Université de Sherbrooke), begun with (Castelnérac & Marion 2009), and refers to further work with Helge Rückert (Universität Mannheim) in (Marion & Rückert unpublished). I would like to thank both authors for their input, present in almost every paragraph, and especially Benoît Castelnérac, including also for his comments on an earlier version. In particular, the remarks of per impossibile syllogisms in Prior Analytics, in section 3 and the concluding remarks reflect our latest discussions. I use standard conventions for referring to Aristotle‟s or Plato‟s texts, and Robin Smith‟s translation of Aristotle‟s Prior Analytics, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1989, as well as his translation of Topics, books A and  in Topics Books I and VIII, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1997. Otherwise, translations from Aristotle are from J. Barnes (ed.), The Complete Works of Aristotle. The Revised Oxford Translation, Princeton NJ, Princeton University Press, 1984 and those from Plato are from J. M. Cooper (ed.), Plato. Complete Works, Indianapolis IN, Hackett, 1997.