Generality and Identity in Late Medieval Discussions of the Prior Analytics

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AbstractIn this article, I shall consider medieval discussions of the principles of Aristotelian syllogistic which were called the dictum de omni et nullo and the expository syllogism. I am particularly interested in how theological questions contributed to the introduction of some influential new medieval ideas, such as the extensional sameness of the subject as the basis of predication, the interpretation of the expository syllogism from this point of view, and the explication of the logical subject of universal and particular syllogistic premises with the phrase ‘Anything/something which is A. . .’. I end with some remarks about the increasing medieval awareness that these developments were beyond Aristotle’s purview.