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Aristotle and Language

The document discusses Aristotle's views on language, thought, and the structure of the world. It examines how Aristotle believed language reflects the categories of being in the world, and is an expression of rational thought and logic. Aristotle held that language is a conventional symbol of mental experiences, though experiences are shared between all people.

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65 views27 pages

Aristotle and Language

The document discusses Aristotle's views on language, thought, and the structure of the world. It examines how Aristotle believed language reflects the categories of being in the world, and is an expression of rational thought and logic. Aristotle held that language is a conventional symbol of mental experiences, though experiences are shared between all people.

Uploaded by

jpbpalencia
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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WORLD, THOUGHT

AND LANGUAGE
IN ARISTOTLE
WORLD, THOUGHT AND
LANGUAGE IN ARISTOTLE
1) The structure of language is a reflection
of the structure of the world
2) Language is an expression of logos or an
act of reasoning as rational animals
3) Language is an expression of rational
thought
1) THE STRUCTURE OF LANGUAGE
IS A REFLECTION OF THE
STRUCTURE OF THE WORLD
Language has a strong bond with reality.

It is the real world that we perceive that provides for the


examples of things that we speak about.

The relation between language and the world is an


indirect one and the mind is an intermediary.
CATEGORIES OF
ARISTOTLE
SUBJECT AND PREDICATE
- Predicates are added to subjects
E.g. subject – laptop
predicate – gray, on the table, BMax brand
10 CATEGORIES OF BEING
1) Substance - a being whose essence requires that it exist
in itself. It is an ens per se (a being by itself) or ens in se
(a being in itself)
2 – 10) 9 accidents - exists in another as in a subject or
substance.
quality, quantity, place, relation, time, position, action,
passion and habit
SUBSTANCE
1) Primary Substance – the things itself
- the individual object
2) Secondary Substance – the name attached to the object.
- Man’s capacity to name objects (Adam naming the
creatures in Genesis)
WORLD, THOUGHT AND
LANGUAGE IN ARISTOTLE

2) Language is an expression of logos or an


act of reasoning as rational animals
ARISTOTLE’S LOGIC
PROPOSITIONS
A. Simple and Compound
Simple – single predication
e.g. Socrates is a philosopher.
Compound – multiple predication. Consists of two simple
propositions
e.g. Socrates is a philosopher and a man.
B. Particulars and Universals
Particular – Socrates is mortal.
Universal – All men are mortal.
PROPOSITIONS
C. Affirmation and Contradiction
Affirmation – Socrates is a mortal.
Contradiction – Socrates is not a mortal.
D. Opposition and Subalternation
Oppositions are two propositions with universals as subjects
e.g. All men are mortal & All men are not mortal.
Subalternation are two propositions with particulars as subjects
DEDUCTION AND INDUCTION
Induction is the movement from primary to
secondary substance, from a thing to a thing with a
name.
- the movement from specific to general.
- Species to genus, ant to insects, apple to fruits,
cabbage to vegetables
DEDUCTION AND INDUCTION
Deduction is the movement from general to
specific
A. All men are mortal
B. Socrates is a man
C. Therefore, Socrates is mortal
WORLD, THOUGHT AND
LANGUAGE IN ARISTOTLE

3) Language is an expression of rational


thought
ARISTOTLE’S THEORY
OF LANGUAGE
ARISTOTLE’S THEORY OF
LANGUAGE
“Spoken words are the symbols of mental
experience and written words are the symbols of
spoken words. Just as all men have not the same
writing, so all men have not the same speech
sounds, but the mental experiences, which these
directly symbolize, are the same for all as also are
those things of which our experiences are the
images” (Aristotle, On Interpretation, Part 1).
ARISTOTLE’S THEORY OF
LANGUAGE
As Aristotle pointed out words are symbols of
affections of the soul and mental experiences; these
symbols are written or spoken and differ among
languages. However, the mental experiences
signified by these symbols are the same.
(Baykent, 2016)
ARISTOTLE’S USE OF
LANGUAGE
ARISTOTLE’S USE OF
LANGUAGE
Univocal – “one voice”. Apply one word to two
different objects but mean basically the same
Equivocal – different
Analogical - partly the same, partly different. The
meaning changes proportionately to the thing being
described
ARISTOTLE AND PLATO
ARISTOTLE AND PLATO
Aristotle Plato
For Aristotle, the truth of names is not Plato’s emphasis was on the
natural and names are conventional. etymology of a name given to a thing
Conventional – explain a being through or person or the truth and
another being. Use of symbols that are not appropriateness of the name
the symbols themselves
Aristotle’s emphasis is on the
relationship between the name of a
person or thing and the thing or
person the name it signifies in real
life.
PLATO’S IDEALISM
• A thing is named as such because it participates in
the ideal, eternal and archetypal thing in the World
of Forms
• A thing is what they are because we name it that
way from an idea or archetype
ARISTOTLE’S
CONVENTIONALISM
• Aristotelian conventionalism is not a result of a person’s
individual decision taken randomly. The ongoing social
process is what determines convention and such
conventionalism guarantees the social interaction of true
messages.
• It is the real world that we perceive that provides for the
examples of things that we speak about. The relation between
language and the world is an indirect one and the mind is an
intermediary.
ARISTOTLE’S
CONVENTIONALISM
• Not concerned with the truth of names or who
were responsible for giving names.
• Interested in the identity of the individuals being
named
ARISTOTLE’S
CONVENTIONALISM
• Aristotle agreed with Plato in that the mind stored the
similarities among things. However, these similarities and
the words that represent them are not related to each other
in an imitative way. The relation is a conventional one for
Aristotle. Therefore, the mental representation of the
things in the world is the same for all people on earth
however conventional the language is and however
conventions differ among language communities (Harris
and Talbot, 1997,22-24).
ARISTOTLE’S
CONVENTIONALISM
• The words convey thoughts from one person’s
mind to another’s because they are associated with
the same thoughts in both minds. The role of
convention is to establish the mental links between
the words and thoughts. (Baykent, 2016)
THANK YOU FOR
LISTENING

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