^8o ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book I. 



tion of a great plurality of the human fpecies, but not fo good a de- 

 finition as Ariftotle has given, which takes in the whole Ipecies, and 

 marks the progrefs of Man, from the mere fenfitive animal to the per- 

 fe£tion of his nature by intellect and fcience, of which progrefs 

 Polybius in his definition has only mentioned one ftep. 



"But as opinions are fo prevalent among men, and govern the 

 lives of fo great a majority of them, it was fit that Ariftotle fhould 

 teach us, in this great logical work of his, not only how to argue, 

 from felf- evident propoficions, and fo demonftrate, but alfo how to 

 aro-ue from the common opinions of men, and in that way perfuade 

 men, who do not fo much as know what demonftration is. 



And here we may admire the admirable order and economy of 

 this great work. Fir ft he begins with fimple terms, arranged 

 and divided into ten clafles ; And this is the fubjed of his firft book 

 upon logic, entitled Categories. In the fecond book, entitled vt^i 

 Uof^m'oi'Si or Of Interpretation^ he proceeds to treat of propofitions, 

 which he has divided in the wonderful manner above mentioned. 

 His third logical work is entitled the Firjl Analytics^ in which he 

 treats of the form of the fyllogifm, and fhows us how the propofi- 

 tions are to be arranged and conneded together, fo that the con- 

 clufion muft neceflarily follow from the premifles. But that is not 

 demonftration, becaufe the premifles may be falfe; and then the con- 

 clufion will be falfe alfo. But, in his Second Analytics^ he proceeds 

 to (how, how not only the form of the fyllogifm may be regular, but 

 the conclufion of it made true and certain. And, in this way, he ac- 

 compllfties what he profefles to be the defign of the whole work*; name- 

 ly to (how us what fcience and demonftration is. And he concludes 

 this magnum opia, the greateft work of fcience that ever was execut- 

 ed with the work above mentioned, upon Popular Argumentation, or 



reafoning 



• -In the bcrginning of his Firft Analytics. 



