Cursus Philosophicus Thomisticus, Prima Pars Artis Logicae

To the Reader.¹

Since we seek brevity, it might seem idle to spread out into a tedious preface, especially when the very sentence of the Holy Spirit condemns such a thing in advance: “It is foolish to be diffuse before the history, yet concise in the history itself.”² So that we do not impose weariness and a burden on the reader at the very threshold, I would only point out that the aim of our study has been directed toward reducing the discipline of Logic and Philosophy, so far as we can, to a brief and concise method in keeping with the thought of St. Thomas. For this reason, we resolved not only to follow and imitate his solid teaching, but also to emulate his order, brevity, and modesty.

To follow his method and order, at the beginning of the work we divide Logic into two parts. The first comprises the dialectical disputations called the Summulae and concerns logical form. The second, treating predicables, predicaments, and the books of the Posterior Analytics, discusses logical instruments from the side of matter and posterioristic resolution, as we explain more fully at the beginning of this book.

To imitate his brevity, we have taken pains to clear away the vast forest of inextricable questions and the thorny thickets of sophisms, which burdened and stung the minds of students, brought no benefit, and caused considerable loss. We have also sent metaphysical difficulties, and many others from the books On the Soul that had burst into the very cradle of the Summulae in the heat of disputation, to their proper place; and we have treated the discussion of signs and cognitions in Logic on the book On Interpretation. Whenever, in the treatise on the term or elsewhere, we refer readers to Logic, we also indicate the relevant places there. Nevertheless, we could not entirely avoid touching upon some of the most important and necessary difficulties that helped teachers and students explain logical questions. When the reader has seen a chapter of the text, let him seek out the corresponding difficulties in the questions; in this way he will more easily grasp and overcome all the difficulties that arise.

Finally, to engrave modesty—the most pleasing jewel among the angelic virtues of the Holy Doctor—on this little ring, we chose to report, oppose, or follow the opinions of different authors in such a way that we generally abstained from lengthy citations and from naming names. For we publish this work neither to serve controversy nor to indulge a zeal for rivalry, but to serve the search for truth, which attends to doctrines, not persons. We also wished to serve the convenience of our students, for doctrine is more easily instilled when one studies the struggle for truth alone, rather than the contest among authors and authorities. Most kindly reader, we most ardently wish that through this slight but affectionate pen you may attain the truth with interest multiplied many times over. Farewell.