Dialectical Problems in Paris and Cologne. Commentaries on Topics I.11

In this paper, the author would like to consider the definition of dialectical problem presented by Aristotle in the Topics, and the way it was read, analyzed and commented on by different medieval scholars. Although the Aristotelian definition of a dialectical problem is introduced in book I, chapter 11 of the Topics, the concept of problema appears much earlier in the text. It is in fact mentioned in its very first sentence, when Aristotle states that his purpose in the Topics is "to find a method with which to make arguments about every problem by means of probable reasons" (propositum quidem negotii est methodum invenire a qua poterimus syllogizare de omni problemate ex probabilibus). Thus, the definition of problema in chapter 11 becomes of great importance, since it is directly linked to the very first lines of the Topics, in which the aim of the whole book is outlined. The author analyzes some of the issues that medieval authors had to tackle when commenting on these passages, for which they offer diverse solutions.