Classical Trivium

Aristotle (384-322 BC) is history’s master of the art of Logic.

The Trivium is a name for the the language arts in the seven liberal arts.  The arts of the Trivium are Grammar, Logic and Rhetoric.

It is important to realize that these are not three levels of study or three stages of learning, but three separate arts to be studied and practiced.  In fact, they are the three arts on which all philosophical studies depend.

The First Art of the Trvium:  Grammar

Grammar is the art of speaking and writing rightly.  This art is divided into four parts:  Orthography, Etymology, Syntax and Prosody.  Orthography is the study of the letters and sounds of a language.  Etymology is the study of the words of a language, that is, the parts of speech.  Syntax is the study of sentence-making, how words are joined together to express judgments, questions, commands, wishes, and so on.  Prosody is the study of the rhetorical powers of a language, and include pronunciation, accent, meter and figures of speech.

The Second Art of the Trivium:  Logic

Logic, or rational philosophy, is the art by which our ideas are ordered according to the truth.  The art of logic is divided into six parts, each of which is taught in one of six books published by Aristotle in his “Organon“.  In the Categories, we study disconnected ideas that exist in the mind.  In “On Interpretation“, we study how ideas are joined together to form judgments (propositions).  In Prior Analytics, we study how propositions are joined to form arguments (syllogisms).  In Posterior Analytics, we study how demonstrative syllogisms are formed.  In the Topics, we study how dialectical syllogisms are formed.  In Sophistical Elenchi, we study how contentious or sophistical arguments are formed which are not true arguments but only appear to be so.  These studies combine to form the art and science of Logic.

The Third Art of the Trivium:  Rhetoric

Cicero (106-43 BC) is history’s master of the art of Rhetoric.

Rhetoric is the study of the means by which we may procure credibility in speaking.  We study the effects of arguments (logos), character (ethos) and emotion (pathos) on the human will and how they may be affected by a speaker.  The art of Rhetoric is learned through the study of Aristotle’s work “The Art of Rhetoric”, along with a number of books by the Roman philosophers Cicero and Quintilian.

Studying the Trivium

In the Classical Liberal Arts Academy, we make the study of the Trivium simple–not easy, but simple.  We provide free, self-paced, online courses on all of the authoritative works on Grammar, Logic and Rhetoric.  From the first lessons in Grammar through the final lessons in Rhetoric, all of the ancient Trivium can be learned in one place.

To get started in our free courses, please see visit the Academy Study Center.  For articles and videos on the Trivium, please use the links below.

If you have any questions about the Trivium, please contact us.

God bless your studies,

William C. Michael, Headmaster
Classical Liberal Arts Academy

Gospel of St. John 1:21-25 (Greek)

by

The lesson below belongs to the Classical Liberal Arts Academy’s Greek Reading I course. In this course, we study the Gospel of St. John in the New Testament. Students wishing to master the lesson below are to complete translation exercises daily from Greek into English and English into Greek, until … Read more

Latin Vocabulary, Lesson 11. Metals

by

To complete this lesson, complete the following tasks: Study the lesson below, carefully and completely. Read the instructions for translation exercises. Complete translation exercises. Memorize all lesson vocabulary. Work to earn a perfect score on your lesson exam. Lesson Plumbum est molle et grave. Ferrum est durum et Calybs durior. … Read more

Newman on Modern Students

by

“The pleasurable excitement of reading what is new is their motive principle; and the imagination that they are doing something, and the boyish vanity which accompanies it, are their reward. They do not like Logic, they do not like Algebra, they have no taste for Mathematics; which only means that they do not like application, they do not like attention, they shrink from the effort and labour of thinking, and the process of true intellectual gymnastics.”

St. John Henry Newman
On the Idea of the University

Aristotle, On Interpretation. Chapter 09

by

In this lesson, we will study chapter 09 of Aristotle’s work “On Interpretation”. translated by Thomas Taylor. To complete the objectives of this lesson, complete the following tasks: Study the Prelection. Read through the lesson once for familiarity. Study the lesson for mastery. Complete the lesson assessment. Prelection by William … Read more

Aristotle, On Interpretation. Chapter 8

by

To complete the objectives of this lesson, complete the following tasks: Read through the lesson below. Study the lesson for mastery. Complete the lesson assessment questions. Lesson Translation by Thomas Taylor. WHAT ARE SIMPLE ENUNCIATIONS? 1. The affirmation, however, and also the negation is one, which signifies one thing of … Read more

Aristotle, On Interpretation. Chapter 7

by

Of Universal, Particular, Indefinite and Singular Enunciations Chapter 7 of Aristotle’s work On Interpretation” is one of the most difficult chapters for students to understand. To complete the objectives of this lesson, complete the following tasks: Read through the lesson below. Study the lesson for mastery. Complete the lesson assessment … Read more

Understanding Chapter 11 of Porphyry’s Introduction

by

Students often have a difficult time understanding chapter 11 in Porphyry’s Introduction, but this is actually very simple. In the Introduction, Porphyry is explaining the five kinds of things that can be predicated of subjects, known as the five predicables: Genus, Difference, Species, Peculiarity and Accident. In chapter 11, Porphyry … Read more

Exit mobile version