TRV-371 Classical Reasoning I, Lesson 02 - Lecture

Welcome to the Classical Liberal Arts Academy. In this lecture, Academy Headmaster William Michael presents a full study of Chapter 2 of Porphyry’s Introduction (Isagoge), one of the foundational texts of classical logic.

Porphyry (c. 234–305 AD) wrote the Introduction as a commentary on Aristotle’s Categories, explaining how we classify and reason about reality through the five predicables: genus, species, difference, property, and accident. In this second chapter, Porphyry focuses on genus and species, showing how these two concepts form the structure of logical and philosophical understanding.

Students will learn:

• The three meanings of “genus” and why philosophers focus on the third

• How “genus” and “species” differ and relate to each other

• The hierarchy from the most general genus down to individual substances

• The rules of logical predication and why higher terms are said of lower ones

• How Porphyry’s teaching became the foundation of medieval Scholastic logic

This lesson provides a clear and systematic explanation of how human reason organizes knowledge into a rational order of reality—a method used by Aristotle, perfected by Porphyry, and taught by St. Thomas Aquinas and the great medieval schoolmen.

Course: TRV-371 Classical Reasoning I
Text: Porphyry, Introduction (Isagoge), Chapter 2
Instructor: William Michael, Headmaster, Classical Liberal Arts Academy
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