'For continuity is the law of human progress. Advance must ever be won by building on the foundations laid by our predecessors. The nature of man, as essentially social, involves his subjection to this law.''Yet by common consent the period thus ignored was one of intense philosophic activity. Metaphysical problems were discussed with an interest, a zeal, an acumen since unknown ; and some of the greatest intellects the world has ever seen were nurtured in the schools of the day. Nor was the philosophy of the Scholastics one of those immature systems, which arise when the mind of man is called to grapple for the first time with the great problems of the universe. These men had inherited the two streams of Greek and Arabian thought. They had set themselves to master and to develop the conclusions of Plato, of Aristotle, of Avicenna, of Averroes. They were influenced not by the Peripatetic school alone, but further by Stoicism, Neo-platonism, Augustinianism. It is significant that nearly every thinker, even those occupying a hostile position, who has devoted enough time and attention to understand the matter, has expressed his admiration for the great synthesis effected by the Scholastic philosophers.
...
The deliberate ignoring of so famous a period, and one so fruitful for the civilization of Europe, may well provide for reflection. For continuity is the law of human progress. Advance must ever be won by building on the foundations laid by our predecessors. The nature of man, as essentially social, involves his subjection to this law.'
-
Principles of logic, Introduction vi, vii
'Today, it is widely assumed that there is no structure of thinking that is worth studying. And perhaps that explains why serious thinking is so rare. It is nothing short of astonishing that most people go all the way through school with no exposure to logic at all.'
- Jeffrey Tucker
'It was not always this way. Logic used to be a key component liberal education: it was part of the classic “trivium”. Being able to masterfully wield logic in debate enabled Peter Abelard to advance medieval philosophy past the Neoplatonic rut it was mired in, and made him the closest thing in his day to a rock star. The School of Salamanca used scholastic logic to give birth to economic theory. Even after scholasticism was unfairly discredited, logic was still widely studied by schoolboys throughout the west. The Austrian School used logic to rigorize and advance economic science. However, the rise of positivism rang the death knell for the widespread study of logic.'
-
How to Think: An Introduction to Logic