organon

American  

[awr-guh-non] / ˈɔr gəˌnɒn /

noun

plural

organa, organons

1. an instrument of thought or knowledge.

2. Philosophy. a system of rules or principles of demonstration or investigation.

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organon British  

/ ˈɔːɡəˌnɒn /

noun

1. a system of logical or scientific rules, esp that of Aristotle

2. archaic a sense organ, regarded as an instrument for acquiring knowledge

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Etymology

Origin of organon

First recorded in 1580–90; from Greek órganon; organ

Example Sentences

Where Thomas Aquinas, in his thirteenth century “Summa Theologica,” wished to systematize all of Christian doctrine, Lem wrote a secular organon of human civilization’s entanglement with machines.

From The New Yorker • Jan. 6, 2019

He worked out the first "organon," or manual of logical thought.

From Time Magazine Archive

But he corrected Aristotle's method of examining nature, instituting a "new organon" of inductive logic�accumulating facts, theorizing later.

From Time Magazine Archive

They had of course inherited the technology from Ktesibios's hydraulis organ - and the name organum likewise comes from the Greek organon, meaning instrument or tool.

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall

We thus see how vain it is to look to the Aristotelian tradition for an organon of truth or a criterion of falsehood.

From Logic, Inductive and Deductive by Minto, William