 Simon belongs to the logical tradition of the last quarter of the thirteenth-century, which considers the subject matter of logic to be the methods of knowledge acquisition (modi sciendi): the intellectual operations whereby we can proceed from something known to the knowledge of something unknown. These methods are definition, division, and, most importantly, syllogistic reasoning (In Isag.: prologue). Accordingly, logic is neither a purely theoretical science, as it does not consider essences or quiddities, nor a purely practical science, as its aim is not practical action. As a science, logic is rather instrumental to the proper functioning of the theoretical sciences (In Isag.: q.1).