Medieval Modal Systems ― Problems and Concepts

Thom (Southern Cross U., Australia) explains that the major medieval systems of model logic were developed between Pierre Abelard in the 12th century and Jean Buridan in the 14th by thinkers trying to reconcile Aristotle's differing and sometimes discordant accounts of it in Prior Analytics and De Interpretatione . He addresses the doctrine he calls actualism, which holds that modal propositions are about the actual things that ordinary propositions are about; and ampliationism, holding that model propositions are about what possibly falls under the subject-terms of corresponding non-modal propositions. Annotation c2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)