Logical Studies

Signification in Aristotle

Document Type : Research

Author

Seyed Ammar Kalantar

Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, University of Tehran.

https://doi.org/10.30465/lsj.2025.50054.1487
Abstract
For Aristotle both words and propositions signify. However, the question is what the significate is and under what conditions a specific word or proposition can have a single signification. This issue leads to a discussion of homonymy and "to be spoken of in many ways." Of the 20th-century Aristotelian scholars, Irwin argues that the significate is essence, while Shields contends that the significate is meaning, which has multiple degrees ranging from shallow meaning (the lexical) to deep meaning (the essence). This paper argues that the main factor in the signification of words and propositions is that the significate must have real unity. The real unity of the signified of words, determined based on the doctrine of Categories, can occur in two forms: "in virtue of one," such as human, and "with reference to one," such as being. On the other hand, the true unity of the significate of propositions relates to the real unity of the conditions under which a proposition can be true. Therefore, in Aristotle's discussion of signification, we are seeking real unity, and ordinary linguistic meaning is not his ultimate goal. The significance of this discussion lies in this fact that the signification of words is one of Aristotle's important tools in philosophical discourse.

Keywords

Aristotle
signification
unity
homonymy
to be spoken of in many ways
with reference to one
Subjects
 
 
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Logical Studies
Volume 15, Issue 2
March 2025
Pages 81-108

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