Arthur Prior and medieval logic Sara L. Uckelman

Abstract

Though Arthur Prior is now best known for his founding of modern temporal
logic and hybrid logic, much of his early philosophical career was devoted to
history of logic and historical logic. This interest laid the foundations for both of his
ground-breaking innovations in the 1950s and 1960s. Because of the important rôle
played by Prior’s research in ancient and medieval logic in his development of temporal
and hybrid logic, any student of Prior, temporal logic, or hybrid logic should be
familiar with themedieval logicians and their work. In this article we give an overview
of Prior’s work in ancient and medieval logic.