The Abridgement and the Summary in Ibn Rushd’s Epitome of Aristotle’s Logic

Abstract

The translation of Greek works played a significant role in the convergence of Arab-Islamic and Western Greek methodologies, thereby enriching civilisational thought in general, whether through contributing to its dissemination or through summarising and commenting upon it to facilitate the understanding of its subject matter. Among the translated and abridged works is Aristotle’s Organon. Abū al-Walīd Ibn Rushd’s Epitome of Aristotle’s Logic is considered one of the most important abridged writings that contributed to enhancing the understanding of the Organon and of the questions it addresses concerning the methodology of inquiry. It also gave rise to epistemological and methodological issues related to epistemic and methodological specificity, which are connected to the nature of the subject and to the anthropology of the study. Therefore, in this research paper, we seek to examine the various methodological aspects adopted by Ibn Rushd in his reading of the manuscript’s “M”, “F”, and “L”, which dealt with the organisation. In doing so, we focus on interrogating and analysing the symbols he employed by answering the following questions:
 What method did Ibn Rushd adopt in writing on the Organon?
 What did the linguistic and symbolic abbreviations employed signify? Are they sufficient to ensure scholarly integrity?