The Porphyrian tree, Tree of Porphyry or Arbor Porphyriana is a classic device for illustrating what is also called a scale of being. It was suggested—if not first, then most famously in the European philosophical tradition—by the 3rd century C.E. Greek neoplatonist philosopher and logician Porphyry. It is also known as scala praedicamentalis. Porphyry suggests the Porphyrian tree in his introduction (in Greek, Isagoge) to Aristotles Categories. Porphyry presented Aristotles classification of categories in a way that was later adopted into tree-like diagrams of dichotomous divisions, which indicate that a species is defined by a genus and a differentia specifica and that this logical process continues until the lowest species is reached, which can no longer be so defined.
Posted on: Thu, 16 Jan 2014 04:39:41 +0000
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