Semantics and Mental Representation in Aristotle's Peri Hermeneias by Rodmon Cedric King ...

187 Pages·2012·1.3 MB·English

by  King, Rodmon

Semantics and Mental Representation in Aristotle’s Peri Hermeneias

by

Rodmon Cedric King

Submitted in Partial Fulfillment
of the
Requirements for the Degree
Doctor of Philosophy

Supervised by
Professor Deborah Modrak

Department of Philosophy
Arts, Sciences and Engineering
School of Arts and Sciences

University of Rochester
Rochester, New York
2012
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For

Edith Virginia King

“We must strive to make each generation better than the last”

Joshua, Josiah, Jeremiah, and Jared King

May you live lives worthy of the excellence within you
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Curriculum Vitae

Rodmon Cedric King was born in Rochester, New York on October 24, 1967. He
attended Roberts Wesleyan College and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in
Religion and Philosophy in 1998. He came to the University of Rochester in the fall
of 2000 and began graduate studies in philosophy. He received a University
Fellowship in 2000, a teaching assistantship in 2001, and a Writing Fellowship in
2002-2003. He received a Consortium for Faculty Diversity Fellowship in 2006-
2008. He was nominated for the Edward Peck Curtis Award for Teaching
Excellence in 2005. He received the Edward Peck Curtis Award for Teaching
Excellence in 2006. He pursued his research under the direction of Professor
Deborah Modrak and received the Master of Arts degree from the University of
Rochester in 2007. He is currently an Instructor of Philosophy at Hobart & William
Smith Colleges. He is the father of four amazing sons.
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Acknowledgements
My deepest and most sincere thanks to my committee: Deborah Modrak,
Randall Curren, and Edward Wierenga. They have provided me crucial support and
assistance in my research and writing. My advisor Deborah Modrak has been
particularly supportive of my efforts with countless hours of vital feedback, and
encouragement. This thesis would not have moved from potentiality to actuality
without her sound guidance. I could not have wished for a more dedicated mentor
and advisor.
I thank the current and former members of the University of Rochester
Philosophy Department for the hours they spent mentoring and inspiring me. In
particular, I thank Amy Bray for everything she does (often without recognition) so
that work such as this sees the light of day. In addition, I thank Gabriele Uzquiano,
David Braun, Richard Feldman, John Bennett, Ralf Merebote, and Earl Conee who
have each played a vital role in my intellectual development. I also thank my
former student colleagues Jacqueline Augustine, Stefan Forrester, Pat Kenny,
Gregory Jansen, Todd Long, and Eva Cadavid. Their support and friendship helped
to sustain me through this process. In particular, I am grateful to Eva Cadavid for
simply being the wonderful friend and person she is. I also thank the staff and
librarians at Rush-Rhees library. I am especially grateful to Eileen Daly for her
vital research assistance.
I extend thanks to my colleagues and peers at Hobart & William Smith
Colleges: Scott Brophy, Steven Lee, Karen Frost-Arnold, Eric Barnes, Greg Frost-
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Arnold, Carol Oberbrunner, and Eugen Baer. In particular, I thank Scott Brophy for
endless support and advocacy. I am also grateful to President Mark Gearan, Interim
Provost Pat McGuire, and former Provost Teresa Amott. In addition, I thank Pat
Cool, Kelly Switzer, Tina (Phillip) Smaldone, Judy Mahoney-Benzer, and J.J.
Smaldone for keeping me grounded. I express my appreciation and gratitude to the
Consortium for Faculty Diversity.
My thanks go to Paul Livermore and David Basinger at Roberts Wesleyan
College for restoring my love of learning and providing me the skills necessary for
graduate studies.
I am grateful to my family for their prayers, support, and encouragement. I
especially want to thank my parents Roy and Lucille King for instilling in me the
strength to pursue my dreams. Also, I am grateful to my sons Joshua, Josiah,
Jeremiah, and Jared for their patience throughout this process. In addition, I thank
my siblings Rashid Muhammad, Lisa Harris, and Philip King for their love and
support. I also want to thank my extended family for their prayers and
encouragement throughout this process.
Lastly and most importantly, I want to thank Sarah Berry without whose
love and support I would never have been able to complete this thesis. I cannot
imagine a more caring and supportive life partner. Each and everyday I am thankful
that we found each other.
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Abstract

This dissertation is a careful examination of the first six chapters of Peri
Hermeneias. This text contains what many consider to be Aristotle’s most explicit
claims concerning language and meaning. In the first half of the last century,
Aristotle’s claims in Peri Hermeneias came under withering criticism. Recently,
Aristotelian scholarship has entered an exciting period as it has been argued that his
linguistic claims in Peri Hermeneias are deep, sophisticated, and defensible. This
recent work has successfully debunked various misinterpretations of Aristotle’s
claims in Peri Hermeneias. With significant amounts of the turbid air surrounding
Peri Hermeneias cleared, the path is open for renewed investigations into and
interpretations of Aristotle’s claims. My intervention on one hand is to critically
evaluate the interpretations of Aristotle’s claims in Peri Hermeneias 1-6.
Simultaneously, on the other hand, my intervention is to present a new interpretation
of Aristotle’s concept of signification and explore its implications. The first chapter
of this thesis is a focused discussion of Plato’s analysis of conventionalism and
naturalism in Cratylus and the way in which this analysis sets the stage for
Aristotle’s discussion of language in Peri Hermeneias. The second chapter
critically examines the issues with which the early Greek commentators were
concerned. Specifically, I examine their interpretations of affections of the soul
(παθήµατα), ‘sign,’ ‘symbol,’ ‘likeness,’ and the connection between Aristotle’s
claims in Peri Hermeneias and his other works. In the third chapter, I argue for
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specific interpretations of the sign, symbol, and likeness relations based upon a
balanced view of the philological and philosophical evidence. Also, I argue for
φαντάσµατα as the affections of the soul (παθήµατα) referenced by Aristotle in Peri
Hermeneias 1, and I connect this interpretation to Aristotle’s work in the Categories
and his account of perception. In the fourth chapter, I argue for an interpretation of
Aristotle’s concept of signification that centers on the representational power of
φαντάσµατα and I apply this interpretation to the linguistic phenomena Aristotle
discusses in Peri Hermeneias 1-6. Lastly, in the fifth chapter, I summarize my
interventions and suggest possible applications of my interpretive work.
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Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Platonic Background 1

1.1 Outline and Summary of the Cratylus 5

1.2 The Correctness of Names and
the Truth-Value of Statements 7

1.3 The Correctness of Names and Conventionalism 15

1.4 Language and Ontology 23

1.4.1 The Tool Analogy 23

1.4.2 The Memetic/Onomatopoetic Theory 30

1.5 Summary and Findings 40

Chapter 2 The Early Greek Commentary Tradition and
Peri Hermeneias 1-6 42

2.1 Peri Hermeneias 1-6 44
2.2 The Early Greek Commentary Tradition 45

2.2.1 The Schema of Chapter One of
Peri Hermeneias 47

2.2.2 Φωναί (Spoken Sounds): Names (ὄνοµατα)
and Verbs (ῤῆµατα)

2.2.3 Sentences and Affirmations 69

2.3 Findings and conclusions 73

Chapter 3 Modern Commentators and Peri Hermeneias 1-6 76

3.1 Sign and Symbol 80

3.2 Likeness (ὀµοίωµατα) and
Affections in the Soul (παθήµατα) 85
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3.3 Real Things 113

Chapter 4 Signification and Semantic Import 121

4.1 The relations in Peri Hermeneias 1 123

4.2 Likeness and Signification 129

4.2.1 Likeness 129

4.2.2 Signification 134

4.3 Signification and Peri Hermeneias 1-6 142

4.3.1 Ὄνοµατα (Names) 142

4.3.2 Ρῆµατα (Verbs) 146

4.3.3 Indefinite Names and Verbs 148

4.3.4 Λόγοs (Sentence) 150

Chapter 5 Conclusions and Implications 154

Bibliography 163
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List of Tables

Table Title

Table 1 Tool Analogy 27

Table 2 Schema for Aristotle’s Categories 117

Table 3 Relations in Peri Hermeneias 16a3-8 124