Introduction

Abstract

In the wake of A. N. Prior’s book on Time and Modality¹ an active interest has sprung up among logicians in the logical theory of chronological propositions generally, and particularly in the relationships that obtain between such propositions and modal concepts. This phenomenon is not surprising, because the issue is one that ramifies widely into various topics of logico-philosophical interest: the theory of tensed discourse, the problem of determinism, and the puzzle of future contingency, among others. The modern discussions have gone forward wholly oblivious to the fact that medieval Arabic logicians had given extensive attention to the development of a theory of temporal modalities, and had developed an extensive and subtle machinery for dealing with problems in this area. The aim of the present monograph is one of “intellectual archeology” — to present the Arabic contributions to this branch of logic in such a way that their linkage with ideas and concepts of present-day interest can be assessed and appreciated.