This, then, is Aristotle’s classification.

The second section, which comprises the premises, they call Hermeneias, meaning “Statements.”

The third, which deals with the unrestricted syllogism, they term the First Analytica.

The demonstrative part they label the Second Analytica.

The dialectical they name the Topica.

The rhetorical they call the Rhetorica.

The poetic they designate the Poietica.

And the sophistical they refer to as the Sophistica.

All of these are Greek titles. When Arabs employ them they adapt and arabize the words, just as they do with other borrowed terms; hence the differing forms in which the names appear.

Yet nations before Aristotle recognized the realities of things without this system, and the great bulk of peoples after him have likewise understood those realities without adopting it. Aristotle was minister to Alexander son of Philip the Macedonian, and he is not the “Dhu’l-Qarnayn” mentioned in the Qur’an, as many imagine; rather, he lived about three hundred years before Jesus.

Indeed, the overwhelming majority of rational people in every nation grasp the truths of things without learning Aristotle’s artificial craft. When they examine themselves they find that they apprehend realities without recourse to this contrived discipline.

Nevertheless, its proponents have claimed that it both defines the realities of things and that such realities can be known only through it—yet both assertions are erroneous.