RAMON LLULL

LLULL'S A R T A N D M O D E R N
COMPUTER SCIENCE

I
FIGURE I THE ABSOLUTE PRlNClPLES OR "DIGNITIES"

E U S E B I COLOMER H I S T O R I A N O F P H I L O S O P H Y A N D M E M B E R O F T H E I N S T I T U T D ' E S T U D I S CATALANS

he idea of the Art is Llull's most to the other. Human knowledge is a long ing and the content or subject matter,
xiginal and at the same time the path which must be travelled step by Llull's Art is the most polished medieval
most seminal. It also forms the step. The result of the journey is the expression of a "material" logic which
nucleus of his metaphysical and religious science acquired and this coincides with rejects any separation between the form
thinking. The mystic in fact conceived the full range of Llull's Art. In other of the thought and its real content. The
his Art as an infallible means of acquir- words, the rightful place of the Art unfolding of thought coincides with the
ing knowledge and putting the truth of comes before the branching apart of log- unfolding of reality.
the Christian faith across to Jews and ic and metaphysics. In the Aristotelian Having looked at the meaning of the Art,
Muslims. It is not, however, purely a tradition, logic was a training for effec- we must now try to understand its struc-
method of knowledge so much as a "sys- tive thinking, whatever the content of ture. It consists of three basic elements:
tem of science", in the sense that this that thinking. Metaphysics, on the other the central concepts, the signs and graph-
word was to have among idealists: an or- hand, dealt with the content of thought, ic resorts that serve to express them and
ganic set of conceptual structures in of the being and its principles and permutation. Let us start with the first
which there is no separation between causes. The Art arose from a refounding element, the central concepts, and their
container.and content. If we look on it as of logic and metaphysics. This is why, key, the system of absolute and relative
the container, it is "art"; if we see it as unlike Aristotelian logic, which is called principles. Llull called the first of these
the content, it is "science", but the two "formal" precisely because it allows a "dignities". This word, related to the
moments are inseparable: each one refers separation between the form of the think- Greek term axioma, designates a series
 RAMON LLULL

FIGURE 11. THE RELATIVE PRlNClPLES

of God's names accepted by the three middle and equality shows that the mys-
monotheist religions, which, because tic does not simply set things off against
they each mean one of the Creator's per- each other, but looks for mediation and re-
fections reflected in created things as in conciliation, so to speak.
a mirror, also provide a knowledge of The second element of the Art are the
God and of the world. In the definitive signs aiid graphic resorts with which
version of the Ars ultima (1308) the nine Llull represents the central-trunk con-
names are as follows: goodness, great- cepts and their relationships. The main
ness, eternity, power, wisdom, will, vir- ones are the alphabet, the figures and the
tue, truth and glory. The "secret" of the table. The alphabet arises fron the assig-
dignities, in short, lies in the theologiza- nation of the nine letters of the Latin al-
tion of Platonic apriorism and example: phabet B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,K to the two
God has created everything in the image successive series of absolute and rela-
of his own perfections. The dignities, like tive principles. Thus for example, B =
Plato's "ideas", then become principia goodness and difference; C = greatness
essendi et cognoscendi -that is, funda- and concordance, etc.
mental structures of the being and struc- FIGURE 111. THE 'CHAMBERS' Thefigures connect the meanings of the
tural forms of human knowledge. In crea- letters of the alphabet into a coherent
tures, the dignities differ one from the logical language. In the final version of
other, whereas in God they coincide and the Ars ultima there are four. The first
identify with one another: goodness is (figure A) represents the absolute princi-
greatness and vice versa. ples. It consists of a circle divided into
To the dignities or absolute principles nine sectors corresponding to the nine
must be added the nine relative principles, letters of the alphabet. Inside the circle a
as follows: difference, concordance, con- series of straight lines lead from one sec-
trariety, beginning, middle, end, majority, tor to another signifying that the con-
equality and rninority. They are called rel- cepts represented by the respective let-
ative because they establish the various ters are permutable. The letter A which
possible modes of relation between the occupies the centre represents, in Llull's
absolute principles. Note, however, that own words, "the Lord, our God". The
not al1 the relative principles have the first figure is therefore a theological fig-
same extension; for example, in God there ure. The second figure (figure T) corre-
is no place for contrariety or minority. The sponds to the relative principles. It is
new series of principles gives the Art the made up of three superimposed triangles,
sense of a comparative logic or general inscribed in a circle, around which the
doctrine of relations tying the world's letters of the alphabet appear again. The
beings to one another and to God. Llull angles of each of the triangles refer back
conceives reality as interrelated; ultimate- to the corresponding trio of relative prin-
ly, everything is connected to everything ciples. These first two figures provide the
else. What is more, the fact that in the rel- logician with the terms of the prayer. The
ative triads the central position corre- third figure, on the other hand, is di-
sponds to the concepts of concordance, FIGUREIV THE FIXED CIRCLEAND THEMOVABLE CIRCLES rected at forming the judgement. It has
 R A M O N LLULL

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thirty-six compartments -or "chambers", ken as absolute principles and those fol- thereby gets 84 ternary combinations
as Llull calls them-, each with two let- lowing as relative principles. which in turn become the heads of new
ters which supply the subject and the pred- The conjuction of al1 these elements series of 20 combinations, so as to make
icate of the possible sentence. The role gives rise to the combination. The mys- a total of 1,680 (84 x 20) combinations.
of the logician is now to find the middle tic sees this as an efficient instrument for The whole mechanism has a very defin-
term that can join them. This is the job forming the sentence and the syllogism. ite objective: to find the right terms to
of the fourth figure, which consists of th- To this end, he must solve the following form the judgement and the syllogism
ree superimposed circles, one fixed and questions: first, given a subject, find al1 and thereby constitute reasoning almost
the other two movable. Each one consists the possible predicates and vice-versa; mechanically. E.Bloch is therefore quite
of nine chambers, containing respectively and second, find the middle term that right when he describes Llull's Art as
the nine letters of the alphabet. To "ope- allows the previous judgements in a syl- "technically manufactured thousand-
rate", the two movable circles must be logism. Llull therefore started to assign league boots of the deductive concept".
turned on the fixed circle. The first mo- letters of the alphabet to the two series Not very many years ago, most logi-
vable circle then provides the middle of principles. Afterwards, using binary cians considered the Art nonsense and
term. and ternary combinations of letters, he its author an eccentric, to say the least.
The general table arises from the rotation established the necessary relations be- Today, with the boom in new mathemat-
of the two movable circles of the fourth tween the terms of a judgement or of sev- ical logic and modern computer sys-
figure. This is made up of eighty-four eral judgements. To facilitate this task, tems, the situation has changed complete-
columns, each of which contains eight he assigned the fourth figure and the ta- ly. Although the formalist procedure
chambers or combinations of three letters ble as an instrument. By turning the central to computer systems is not
(for example, BCB, BCD, etc.). Since the middle movable circle of the fourth fig- suited to Llull's more "material" intention,
procedure occasionally involves a mix- ure over the higher fixed circle and the there is no question that the Art also
ture of absolute and relative principles, lower circle over the middle circle -but contains a series of formal aspects that
Llull introduces a T into the combina- not letting letters coincide-, one gets 252 can rightly be seen as a distant forerun-
tions (for example, BCTB, BCTD, etc.) ternary combinations. The table is the re- ner of mathematical logic and of the
to distinguish the first from the second. sult of turning the two movable circles of complex world of our computer sys-

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The letters preceding the T must be ta- the fourth figure in alphabetic order. One tems. First of all, there are similarities
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C A T A L O N I A

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 RAMON LLULL

of an externa1 nature but with unforesee- idea of a logical calculus and the tech- from which to construct the moving cir-
able consequences for the future: the niques used by Llull to carry it out go cles. And the table, for its part, represents
formalization of language -that is, the further than he thought and contain the a first attempt at tabulating calculus re-
outline of an artificial and of a second- seed of a daring attempt to mathematize sults.
ary system of signs to replace the con- and mechanize thought, an attempt which By an irony of history, the mystic's math-
cepts of the common language. at that time must have seemed crazy, but ematical "dream" -which Leibniz later
There are also interna1 similarities. Mod- which today we can begin to understand formulated in a famous statement: "AC-
em logical calculus is based on the equiv- in all its genius. Anthony Bonner re- cording to this, when some controversy
alence of the elements it intends to com- cently pointed out that to graphically arose, there would no be more need for
bine. Whatever we are dealing with represent binary relations of the sort "b discussion between philosophers than
-whether concepts, words, numbers or is interchangeable with c" or "d is oppo- between calculators. It would suffice for
real objects-, the essential condition is site or greater than e" (to take two exam- them to take up a pen, sit down at a ta-
that it can be asserted as an equivalent. ples from Llull), logicians and mathe- ble and say to each other, 'let us calcu-
This is what happens with the principles maticians use a series of vertices late!"'- has ceased to be a logical and
in the first figure. The letters designating connected by lines, which is exactly what scientific "heresy" to become, according
it are strictly equivalent. Each of them Llull does in the first figure. Another way to Bloch, "an industry of thought which
can follow the others, replace them or be of representing a network of relations is professes speed as a heresy". There is, in
combined with them irrespectively. The with a matrix, which is precisely what we this respect, a significant fact it would
combinations of the first figure, there- have in the third figure. The table shows not be out of place to mention here. By
fore, exactly satisfy the laws of logic for us the complete set of possible relations introducing a certain key-word into the
substitution and permutation. and thus becomes a forerunner for the Siemens electronic calculator in Berlin,
The other elements of Llull's combina- mathematical concept of the function of a training program starts up. whose title
torial art do not respond to the demands a function. Furthermore, the fourth fig- is "Ars Magna. Author: Raiinundo Lullus
of a strictly formal logic. Standing as ure has the appearance of a rudimentary (c. 1300)". Llull's logical model has been
they do for different principles at the calculating and even thinking machine. translated into Cobol and Assembler
same time, the signs of the alphabet Llull sometimes gives precise instruc- computer languages by a programmer.
cease to be equivalents. Nevertheless, the tions about the material, preferably brass, And the program works!