Abstract:

My dissertation Language, Thought, and Reality in Aristotle's De Interpretatione and De Anima reconstructs the theory of signification implicit in Aristotle's De Interpretatione and its psychological background in the De Anima , a project that has often been envisioned by scholars but has never been systematically undertaken. This study develops in three stages that correspond to the three elements involved in every notion of signification: (1) the phonetic element or significans , which in Aristotle's vocabulary is denoted by the term ph?n? (voicalized sound), (2) the significatum , i.e. that for which the phonetic material stands, and (3) the relation between significans and significatum . (1, chapt.s 1 and 2) I begin by explaining what sort of phonetic material according to Aristotle can be a significans and can therefore be properly called ph?n? . To that end, I provide a physiological account of which animal sounds count as ph?n? , as well as a psychological evaluation of the cognitive content of the voicalized sounds under consideration in De Interpretatione : names, verbs, and assertive sentences. (2, chapt.s 3 and 4) Once I have made clear what sort of significans Aristotle has in mind, I then turn to the significatum , which is, in Aristotle's view, the psychological reference of names, verbs and assertive sentences, i.e. no?mata (thoughts). The two issues at stake here are what logical properties a significatum must have in order to be signified by the phonetic material of a name, verb or assertive sentence, and why no?mata can fulfill those logical conditions. (3, chapt. 5) Finally, unlike other modern interpreters, I offer an account of the significans--significatum relation that bears no relation to the traditional 'semantic triangle' and to the modern understanding of 'convention'. This approach not only does justice to Aristotle's philosophical methodology and offers fresh solutions to some semantic puzzles, as for instance that of empty names (e.g. 'goat-stag'), but also breaks new ground by exploring the interconnection between the linguistic and psychological aspects of Aristotle's theory of signification.