Exclusivity, teleology and hierarchy : Our Aristotelean legacy

This paper examines Parmenides's Fragments, Plato's The Sophist, and Aristotle's Prior Analytics, Parts of Animals and Generation of Animals to identify three underlying presumptions of classical logic using the method of Foucauldian discourse analysis. These three presumptions are the notion of mutually exclusive categories, teleology in the sense of linear progression toward a goal, and hierarchy both through logical division and through the dominance of some classes over others. These three presumptions are linked to classificatory thought in the western tradition. The purpose of making these connections is to investigate the cultural specificity to western culture of widespread classificatory practice. It is a step in a larger study to examine classification as a cultural construction that may be systemically incompatible with other cultures and with marginalized elements of western culture.