Aristotle's Psychology of Signification: A Commentary on De Interpretatione 16ª 3–18

197 Pages·2013·2.02 MB·English

by  Simon Noriega-Olmos

Simon Noriega-Olmos
Aristotle’s Psychology of Signification
Beiträge zur Altertumskunde
Herausgegeben von
Michael Erler, Dorothee Gall,
Ludwig Koenen, Clemens Zintzen
Band 303
De Gruyter
Simon Noriega-Olmos
Aristotle’s Psychology
of Signification
A Commentary on
a
De Interpretatione 16 3–18
De Gruyter
ISBN 978-3-11-028765-3
e-ISBN 978-3-11-028987-9
ISSN 1616-0452
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Matri Optimae et Carissimae

Preface
ThisbookisarevisedversionofmyPhDdissertationsubmittedin2008
to the Princeton Classics Department and the Princeton Classical Phi-
losophy Program. This is a commentary of De interpretatione 16a3–18,
though not a running commentary. I systematically discuss here in full
detail and depth textual, philological, and philosophical aspects of
16a3–18. This involves making explicit the assumptions made by the
text and tracking them back to other areas of the Corpus Aristotelicum,
in particular to De anima. In writing this book I was fortunate to have
the support of a number of people I would like to thank. First, I
would like to express my gratitude to the members of my Dissertation
Committee, Christian Wildberg, John Cooper, and Hendrik Lorenz.
Their support, critical reactions, and illuminating comments on my
work were priceless and continue to inspire me. I also would like to
thank John Corcoran, who read the Manuscript and provided sharp
and crucial comments and corrections. Geir Thorarinsson and Christ
Noblediscussedwithmemanyof theissuesItackleinthisbook.Icon-
sulted Joshua Katz on linguistic points. Of what appears here they all
are, of course, blameless. A Junior Fellowship at the TOPOI project al-
lowedmetoreformulate somepointsmadeinmydissertation andpres-
ent some aspects of my research to audiences at the Free University and
Humboldt University in Berlin. Parts of this work were also presented
at the Philosophy Department of the Universidad Simon Bolivar in
Venezuela, andthePhilosophyDepartment of theUniversidadeFederal
do Paraná in Brazil, where I profited from Vivianne de Castilho Mor-
eira’s and Lucio Souza Lobo’s comments.
Simon Noriega-Olmos São Paulo, May 2012

Contents
Introduction ......................................... 1
1 Vym¶ ......................................... 4
1.1 The Problem of Vym¶ ........................... 6
1.2 Material,Physiological,andPsychological AspectsofVym¶ 16
1.2.1 Physiology of Vym¶ ............................. 16
1.2.2 Psychological Aspect of Vym¶ ...................... 19
1.3 The Psychological Aspect of Vocalized Sound:
Vamtas¸aorMºgla ........................... 24
1.3.1 Vamtas¸a: Trigger of Vocalized Sound and Information
Conveyed by Vocalized Sound ................. 28
1.3.2 Vocalized Sound as Motion ....................... 33
1.3.3 Human and Animal Vym¶ ........................ 36
2 Sgle?om ....................................... 42
2.1 Sgla¸meim, Sgle?om, and Sglamtijºm in Classical Greek .... 42
2.2 Sgla¸meim, Sgle?om, and Sglamtijºm in Aristotle ......... 47
2.2.1 Natural and Conventional Signification in Aristotle .... 50
2.2.2 Sgle?om, S¼bokom, and DgkoOm ...................... 55
2.3 Signs Signify Something that is One ................ 61
2.3.1 Signifying Ti and >M ............................ 61
2.3.2 Not-Man and Goat-Stag as Significata,Ti and >M ....... 68
2.3.3 Logical Aspects of the Unity of Nominal Definition ... 70
3 The Significatum ................................ 76
3.1 Mºgla ........................................ 76
3.1.1 General Meaning of Mºgla ........................ 76
3.1.2 MoOr, Di²moia, and dºna in De Interpretatione ........... 81
3.2 Mo¶lata in De Interpretatione and De Anima ........... 84
3.2.1 Simple and Complex Thoughts .................... 86
3.2.2. Truth and Falsehood in De Interpretatione and De Anima 89
3.2.3 Objects of Thought in De Interpretatione and De Anima .. 91
3.2.3.1 Individuals as Objects of Intellection ................ 92
3.2.3.2 Species and Genera as Objects of Intellection ......... 98
3.2.3.3 Non-Existent Entities as Objects of Intellection ....... 100