The Trivium
Chapter 1
The Liberal Arts.
Liberal arts is divided into seven different branches, all contained in the Trivium and in the Quadrivium. The Trivium relates to the aspects of the mind (logic, grammar and rhetoric) and the Quadrivium to the aspects of matter (arithmetic, music, geometry and astronomy).
Liberal arts are something worth studying for the following reasons:
Classes of goods:
This chapter was great, because it actually explains what the MPC and Liberal Arts is all about. I agree with mostly everything, however I do not agree with utilitarian arts enabling us to be a servant. I believe these utilitarian arts are also a form of achieving happiness and of teaching people how to live, to relate and to have experiences that make life richer. It might not be a very high intellectual life, but I think Sister Miriam underestimates the power of utilitarian arts.
Liberal arts is divided into seven different branches, all contained in the Trivium and in the Quadrivium. The Trivium relates to the aspects of the mind (logic, grammar and rhetoric) and the Quadrivium to the aspects of matter (arithmetic, music, geometry and astronomy).
Liberal arts are something worth studying for the following reasons:
- Those who first perfect their own faculties through liberal education are thereby better prepared to serve others in a professional or other capacity (in other words it gives you the knowledge to branch out to many other subjects).
- The essential activity of the student is to relate the facts learned into a unified, organic whole; to assimilate (this is also important because you can interconnect and relate to any other subject).
- Liberal arts teach one to live, to train faculties and bring them to perfection.
Classes of goods:
- Valuable (increase intrinsic worth of possessor, knowledge).
- Useful (enable to acquire valuable goods, money).
- Pleasurable (they give satisfaction, happiness).
This chapter was great, because it actually explains what the MPC and Liberal Arts is all about. I agree with mostly everything, however I do not agree with utilitarian arts enabling us to be a servant. I believe these utilitarian arts are also a form of achieving happiness and of teaching people how to live, to relate and to have experiences that make life richer. It might not be a very high intellectual life, but I think Sister Miriam underestimates the power of utilitarian arts.
Chapter 2
The Nature and Function of Language.
The main function of language is to communicate thought, volition and emotion through symbols. There are two means of communication: imitation (artificial likeness) and symbols (meanings imposed by convention). Words are symbols of ideas about reality.
Form of language – essence – species – genus – aggregate.
There are 4 internal senses: the imagination, the sensous memory, the common sense and the instinct.
Categories of being:
9 categories of accident:
Subcategories:
Ambiguity:
Importance of grammar:
Grammar gives expression to all the states of mind or soul. It is also a prerequisite for logic and rhetoric.
The main thing that I didn’t agree with in this chapter is the part about animals. Just because animals don’t have the same language as us, doesn’t mean they are dumb and how do we knoe that animals don’t have a more evolved language that we just don’t understand? And most importantly, how does Sister Miriam know that animals don’t think?
Something that struck me as really interesting was that this whole chapter is related to the Rhetoric of the Image. Some of the points by which I made the connection were: imitation being artificial likeness, the nature of language and basically the whole chapter.
The main function of language is to communicate thought, volition and emotion through symbols. There are two means of communication: imitation (artificial likeness) and symbols (meanings imposed by convention). Words are symbols of ideas about reality.
Form of language – essence – species – genus – aggregate.
There are 4 internal senses: the imagination, the sensous memory, the common sense and the instinct.
Categories of being:
- If a being exists in itself – it is a substance
- If a being exists in another – it is an accident
9 categories of accident:
- Quantity (tall)
- Quality (handsome)
- Relation (near)
- Action (smiling)
- Passion (being drafted)
- When (Sunday)
- Where (at the lake)
- Posture (sitting)
- Habiliment
Subcategories:
- Predicate is in the subject itself (1)
- Predicate exists in the subject (2,3)
- Predicate exists in something extrinsic to the subject (4-10)
Ambiguity:
- History of words
- Imposition and intention
- Nature of the Phantasm (image of the word, common nature, common and proper names)
- Deliberate ambiguity (irony, pun, metaphor)
Importance of grammar:
Grammar gives expression to all the states of mind or soul. It is also a prerequisite for logic and rhetoric.
The main thing that I didn’t agree with in this chapter is the part about animals. Just because animals don’t have the same language as us, doesn’t mean they are dumb and how do we knoe that animals don’t have a more evolved language that we just don’t understand? And most importantly, how does Sister Miriam know that animals don’t think?
Something that struck me as really interesting was that this whole chapter is related to the Rhetoric of the Image. Some of the points by which I made the connection were: imitation being artificial likeness, the nature of language and basically the whole chapter.
Chapter 3
General Grammar
General grammar is concerned with the relation of words to ideas and to realities. Special grammar is the relation of words between words (English and Latin grammar).
General grammar is divided into two: categorematic and syncategorematic. These two make up the 4 parts of speech:
The noun is categorized into: concrete or abstract- number – gender – person – case(nominative, genitive, dative, accusative)
The functions of the verb express an attribute along with the notion of time, it also indicates the tense, expresses a mood and asserts.
This chapter gives us mostly the basics needed for general grammar, but it also talks about ambiguity and this I found interesting. I could not help remarking that there are so many ways for a word to be ambiguous, that there is no wonder that we have a hard time in class trying to “agree” with the author.
General grammar is concerned with the relation of words to ideas and to realities. Special grammar is the relation of words between words (English and Latin grammar).
General grammar is divided into two: categorematic and syncategorematic. These two make up the 4 parts of speech:
- Substantives (noun, pronoun)
- Attributes (verbs, adjectives, adverbs)
- Definitive (articles, pronomials)
- Connectives (prepositions, conjunctions)
The noun is categorized into: concrete or abstract- number – gender – person – case(nominative, genitive, dative, accusative)
The functions of the verb express an attribute along with the notion of time, it also indicates the tense, expresses a mood and asserts.
This chapter gives us mostly the basics needed for general grammar, but it also talks about ambiguity and this I found interesting. I could not help remarking that there are so many ways for a word to be ambiguous, that there is no wonder that we have a hard time in class trying to “agree” with the author.
Chapter 4
Terms and Their Grammatical Equivalents: Definition and Division.
A term is a concept communicated through a symbol (when words are used to communicate a concept of reality).
A logical term is a complete symbol, which must be either a proper name, a general description, an empirical description or a common name.
Terms are divided into 5:
A definition is a perfect general description which can be divided into logical, casual and descriptive or distinctive.
A term is a concept communicated through a symbol (when words are used to communicate a concept of reality).
A logical term is a complete symbol, which must be either a proper name, a general description, an empirical description or a common name.
Terms are divided into 5:
- Empiciral and general
- Contradictory (+-)
- Concrete and abstract
- Absolute and relative
- Collective and distributive
A definition is a perfect general description which can be divided into logical, casual and descriptive or distinctive.
Chapter 5
Propositions and Their Grammatical Expression.
A proposition asserts the relation of terms. It consists of subject, copula and predicate. It divides into modal, categorica, simple and compound.
Characteristics of propositions
Symbolized propositional content is divided into a simple declarative sentence, a complez declarative sentence, a compound declarative sentence or a non-sentence.
One of the things I found the most interesting was how poetry in unstranslatable. I definitively agree with that, how can people translate poems to other languages? Number one, It must be hard to find the right words, number two it must be even harder to find the right word that rhymes correctly.
I also liked how Sister Miriam mentions that the human mind is made for truth and seeks truth.
A proposition asserts the relation of terms. It consists of subject, copula and predicate. It divides into modal, categorica, simple and compound.
- Modal: asserts mode. If it asserts a relationchip it is necessary metaphysical, physical, moral or logical.
- Categorical: does not asser mode
- Simple: relation of two terms
- Compound: Relation of at least 3 terms.
Characteristics of propositions
- Reference to reality (general or empirical)
- Quantity (total or partial)
- Quality (affirmative or negative)
- Modality (necessary or contingent)
- Value (true or false)
Symbolized propositional content is divided into a simple declarative sentence, a complez declarative sentence, a compound declarative sentence or a non-sentence.
One of the things I found the most interesting was how poetry in unstranslatable. I definitively agree with that, how can people translate poems to other languages? Number one, It must be hard to find the right words, number two it must be even harder to find the right word that rhymes correctly.
I also liked how Sister Miriam mentions that the human mind is made for truth and seeks truth.
Chapter 6
Relations of Simple Propositions
The relations of propositions can be divided into four:
In this chapter of the book is where logic is starting to make sense. It is where we work a little harder to find the logic of the relationships.
The relations of propositions can be divided into four:
- Conjunction: joining two or more propositions (implicit/explicit) (bare/material)
- Opposition: the square opposition
- Eduction: obversion, conversion, added determinants, omitted determinants, converse relation.
- Syllogism: simple, hypothetical, disjunctive, the dilemma.
In this chapter of the book is where logic is starting to make sense. It is where we work a little harder to find the logic of the relationships.
Chapter 7
The Simple Syllogism
A syllogism is an act of reasoning by which the mind perceives that from the relation of two propositions (premises) having one term in common there necessariliy emerges a new, third proposition (conclusion) in which the common term, called the middle term (M) does not appear.
The formula for reasoning is either valid or invalid.
Matter of syllogism: three propositions relating its three terms. (S – minor, P – mayor, M – middle).
SM
PM
SP
Figure: determined by the position of the middle term in the premises. There are four figures:
SM SM MS MS
MP PM MP PM
SP SP SP SP
Procedure to analyze a syllogism:
Enthymeme: a syllogism logically abridged by the omission of one proposition.
Sorities: chains of enthymemes or abridged syllogisms.
Epicheirema: abridged polysyllogism combining any figures, at least one of the premises in an enthymeme.
Mediated opposition: is the opposition between two propositions which together contain 3 terms, one being common to both.
Reduction: demonstrate the validity of an imperfect figure as a formal process of reasoning by showing that an argument carried according to the rules of an imperfect figure is valid in the perfect figure.
What we don’t realize is that in this chapter Sister Miriam is actually describing part of our daily lives, like the use of the enthymeme. We might not notice but we are constantly using the grammar and logic used in this chapter, with this in mind we can come to think that grammar is the basics to knowing anything.
A syllogism is an act of reasoning by which the mind perceives that from the relation of two propositions (premises) having one term in common there necessariliy emerges a new, third proposition (conclusion) in which the common term, called the middle term (M) does not appear.
The formula for reasoning is either valid or invalid.
Matter of syllogism: three propositions relating its three terms. (S – minor, P – mayor, M – middle).
SM
PM
SP
Figure: determined by the position of the middle term in the premises. There are four figures:
SM SM MS MS
MP PM MP PM
SP SP SP SP
Procedure to analyze a syllogism:
- Find a conclusion (SP)
- Write S & P over the premises
- Find M
- Mood
- Distribution of terms
- Test to find (negatives, partials, etc.)
- Valid or invalid
Enthymeme: a syllogism logically abridged by the omission of one proposition.
- Because, for, since introduce a premise.
- Therefore, consequently, accordingly introduces a conclusion.
- And/but connects two premises and indicates that the preposition omitted is the conclusion.
Sorities: chains of enthymemes or abridged syllogisms.
- Conclusion turns into the mayor premise of the next.
- Conclusion turns into minor premise of the next (Aristotelian, Goctenian)
Epicheirema: abridged polysyllogism combining any figures, at least one of the premises in an enthymeme.
Mediated opposition: is the opposition between two propositions which together contain 3 terms, one being common to both.
Reduction: demonstrate the validity of an imperfect figure as a formal process of reasoning by showing that an argument carried according to the rules of an imperfect figure is valid in the perfect figure.
What we don’t realize is that in this chapter Sister Miriam is actually describing part of our daily lives, like the use of the enthymeme. We might not notice but we are constantly using the grammar and logic used in this chapter, with this in mind we can come to think that grammar is the basics to knowing anything.
Chapter 8
Relations of Hypothetical and Disjunctive Propositions.
A hypothetical proposition is one that asserts the dependence of one proposition on another.
It is divided into two
3 terms: If S is M 4 terms: If B is C
It is P D is E
SM is P BC is DE
A disjunctive proposition asserts two or more suppositions, one is true. “Either – or”
1) S is P 2) S or T 3) B is C
Or or or
Q or R U is D D is
Dilemma.
Trilemma.
A hypothetical proposition is one that asserts the dependence of one proposition on another.
It is divided into two
3 terms: If S is M 4 terms: If B is C
It is P D is E
SM is P BC is DE
A disjunctive proposition asserts two or more suppositions, one is true. “Either – or”
1) S is P 2) S or T 3) B is C
Or or or
Q or R U is D D is
Dilemma.
Trilemma.
Chapter 9
Fallacies
A fallacy is a violation of a logical principle disguised under an appearance of validity; an error in process. A “erroneous relation of proposicions”.
Falsity: an error in fact. A erroneous relation of terms”.
A fallacy is a violation of a logical principle disguised under an appearance of validity; an error in process. A “erroneous relation of proposicions”.
Falsity: an error in fact. A erroneous relation of terms”.
Fallacies in diction (6): ambiguity of language
- Equivocation: ambiguity of words.
- Amphiboly: ambiguity of grammatical structure.
- Composition: Parts are illicitly predicated of the whole.
- Division: the whole is illicitly predicated into parts.
- Accent: different meaning conveyed through emphasis.
- Verbal form: similarity in language = similarity in meaning.
Fallacies in extradictionem: false assumption.
- Accident: shifting usage of the same term (intention, imposition)
- Confusion of absolute and qualifies statements: true in one case is assumed to be true in another.
- Fallacy of consequent: assumption that a proposition is convertible simple –
- Arguing besides the point: ignoring the issue (argumentum ad hamen, ad populum, ad misericordiam, ad baculum, ad ignoratiam.
- False cause: something that is not a cause is held for a cause.
- Begging the question: assuming the proposition to be proved (tautological, shuttle, question-begging, and epithet).
- Complex question: divide a question and answer it by parts.
Chapter 10
A Brief Summary of Induction
Logic seeks truth. The requirements for truth are:
Knowledge is whatever the information the mind possesses.
Logic seeks truth. The requirements for truth are:
- What is thought must represent what is.
- Thoughts must be consisted among themselves.
Knowledge is whatever the information the mind possesses.
Induction: every proposition is derived directly or ultimately from induction. It could be enumerative, intuitive or dialectical.
Induction is concerned with the investigation of causes:
Aristotle’s 4 metaphysical causes: explain every material effect.
Induction is concerned with the investigation of causes:
- Cause: makes the thing what is
- Condition: enables the cause to act in producing effects.
- Determining agent: conditional that sets in motion causative factors.
Aristotle’s 4 metaphysical causes: explain every material effect.
- Efficient cause
- Final cause
- Material cause
- Formal cause
- Observation
- Analogy
- Hypothesis
- Sifting of data (joint method, residues, concomitant variations, method of agreement, method if difference)
- Verification of hypothesis (elimination, intuitive induction, application and demonstration by deduction).
Chapter 11
Composition and Reading
Logic (Aristotle)
The art of finding in any given subject matter the available means of persuasion. Its modes are: persuasion, style and arrangement.
Poetics (Aristotle):
Is an imitation of life, in which the author does not speak to the reader directly, but only through characters.
Parts or elements: (also realized in novel and short story)
Figurative language:
Trope: the turning of a word from its ordinary and proper meaning to another not proper meaning, in order to increase its force and vividness. There are 8 kinds of tropes.
Based on similarity
Based on subject/ adjunct/ cause and effect
Based on division
Based in contraries
Logic (Aristotle)
- Posterior Analytics
- Topics
- Sophistical refutations
The art of finding in any given subject matter the available means of persuasion. Its modes are: persuasion, style and arrangement.
Poetics (Aristotle):
Is an imitation of life, in which the author does not speak to the reader directly, but only through characters.
Parts or elements: (also realized in novel and short story)
- Plot
- Characters
- Thought of characters
- Diction or style
- Music
- Spectacle
Figurative language:
Trope: the turning of a word from its ordinary and proper meaning to another not proper meaning, in order to increase its force and vividness. There are 8 kinds of tropes.
Based on similarity
- Simile: like, as, resembles.
- Metaphor: identification of similar objects of different classes.
- Onomatopoeia: words or rhymes whose sound imitates the sense.
- Personification: attribution of life, sensation or human qualities to objects or abstract ideas.
- Antonomasia: 1) proper name substituted for a quality. 2) Descriptive attributes substitute a proper name.
Based on subject/ adjunct/ cause and effect
- Metonymy: substitutes the subject for adjunct, adjunct for subject, cause for effect, and effect for cause.
Based on division
- Synecdoche: substitutes the part for the whole, the whole for the part, the species for the genus, the genus for the species.
Based in contraries
- Irony: names one contrary intending another.
Elements of form
Rhythm:
Metrical discourse:
This chapter reminds a lot of The Well Educated mind. In the poetics part it gives the same advice as Susan Wise Bauer: at the end of each book / story one has to ask questions. This chapter also mentions Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Rhythm:
- Parallelism (repetitive, antithetical, additive)
- Caesura
- Cadence
- Meter (metrical unit, scansions, vibrations)
- Rhythm / verse phrasing
- Masculine
- Feminine
- Imperfect / slant
- Eye
- End rhyme
- Internal rhyme
- Alliteration
- Onomatopoeia
- Stanza
Metrical discourse:
- Blank verse
- Heroic couplet
- Heroic quatrain
- Italian sonnet
- English sonnet
- Spenserian stanza
- Rondeau
- Triolet
- Limerick
- Cinquain
This chapter reminds a lot of The Well Educated mind. In the poetics part it gives the same advice as Susan Wise Bauer: at the end of each book / story one has to ask questions. This chapter also mentions Ralph Waldo Emerson.