The Impact of Textual Variations in Çelik’s Edition (2021) on Our Understanding of Abu’l-Futūḥ’s View of the Fourth Figure of the Syllogism and Its Implications for Fallāḥī’s Edition (2014)
Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran
10.30465/lsj.2026.53992.1519
Abstract
The treatise al-Shakl al-Rābiʿ min Aškāl al-Qiyās al-Ḥamlī by Abu’l-Futūḥ Najm al-Dīn Aḥmad b. Muḥammad b. al-Sarī b. al-Ṣalāḥ (d. 548/1153) is the oldest systematic defense of the fourth figure of the categorical syllogism in Islamic logic. This text remained unknown until the 1960s, when its first publication was made by Nicholas Rescher (1966) based on the incomplete manuscript Ayasofya 4830. Asadullah Fallāḥī (2014) claimed to provide a corrected edition, making the text more pedagogical but introducing numerous additions and personal interpretations. Muhammad Çelik (2021), by discovering the more complete manuscript Ayasofya 4845, offered the first true critical edition and criticized Fallāḥī’s work for its additions and alterations. This article, through a comparison of the three editions, demonstrates that textual and manuscript variations profoundly alter our understanding of Abu’l-Futūḥ: in Rescher he appears incomplete and raw, in Fallāḥī decisive and Galen-aware, and in Çelik cautious and independent from the Hellenistic tradition. These differences affect key innovations (the definition of qasīm, refutation of objections, superiority of multiple conclusions) and render the history of Islamic logic less Galen-centered and more indigenous.
Mohammad Ghorbanian,H . (2026). The Impact of Textual Variations in Çelik’s Edition (2021) on Our Understanding of Abu’l-Futūḥ’s View of the Fourth Figure of the Syllogism and Its Implications for Fallāḥī’s Edition (2014). (e14138). Logical Studies, 16(2), e14138 doi: 10.30465/lsj.2026.53992.1519
MLA
Mohammad Ghorbanian,H . "The Impact of Textual Variations in Çelik’s Edition (2021) on Our Understanding of Abu’l-Futūḥ’s View of the Fourth Figure of the Syllogism and Its Implications for Fallāḥī’s Edition (2014)" .e14138 , Logical Studies, 16, 2, 2026, e14138. doi: 10.30465/lsj.2026.53992.1519
HARVARD
Mohammad Ghorbanian H. (2026). 'The Impact of Textual Variations in Çelik’s Edition (2021) on Our Understanding of Abu’l-Futūḥ’s View of the Fourth Figure of the Syllogism and Its Implications for Fallāḥī’s Edition (2014)', Logical Studies, 16(2), e14138. doi: 10.30465/lsj.2026.53992.1519
CHICAGO
H Mohammad Ghorbanian, "The Impact of Textual Variations in Çelik’s Edition (2021) on Our Understanding of Abu’l-Futūḥ’s View of the Fourth Figure of the Syllogism and Its Implications for Fallāḥī’s Edition (2014)," Logical Studies, 16 2 (2026): e14138, doi: 10.30465/lsj.2026.53992.1519
VANCOUVER
Mohammad Ghorbanian H. The Impact of Textual Variations in Çelik’s Edition (2021) on Our Understanding of Abu’l-Futūḥ’s View of the Fourth Figure of the Syllogism and Its Implications for Fallāḥī’s Edition (2014). Logical Studies. 2026;16(2):e14138 (In Persian). doi: 10.30465/lsj.2026.53992.1519
