13. Logic, Words, and the Ordering of Thought

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Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

Logic as the Ordering of Thought Through Words #

• Logic is fundamentally concerned with using words to order our thoughts
• Words (vocal sounds) signify both things and thoughts, making them the sensible tool by which reason orders itself
• The natural epistemic road for rational animals proceeds from senses → imagination → reason
• Since thinking itself cannot be sensed or imagined, we require sensible signs (words) as instruments
• Thomas Aquinas emphasizes the subtlety: reason orders “its thoughts to each other and the signs of thoughts, which are signifying vocal sounds”

The Three Acts of Reason and Their Corresponding Tools #

Thomas distinguishes three interior acts of reason:

1. Understanding what a thing is → perfected by definitions
2. Understanding true or false → perfected by statements (propositions)
3. Reasoning → perfected by syllogisms and arguments

Logic concerns these three acts as its inner purpose (directing and perfecting them), while its subject matter is the three tools themselves:

• Definition
• Statement
• Syllogism

All three are forms of λόγος (logos)—they are speeches composed of names.

Speech versus Single Names #

• A name is a vocal sound where no part signifies by itself
• A speech is a vocal sound where some part signifies by itself
• Definition, statement, and syllogism are all speeches because they are composed of names (parts), and each name has its own signification
• In a statement like “Man is an animal,” both “man” and “animal” signify by themselves

The Problem of Sensibility and Reason #

• Can you see, hear, smell, taste, or touch thinking? No.
• Can you even imagine a thought? No.
• Yet reason must operate on thoughts to order them
• Therefore, reason requires a sensible intermediary: words that bring thoughts to mind by striking the senses
• This is why vocal sounds—not written words—are primary (they are produced by the vocal cords and enter through the ears)

Prayer as an Example of Ordering Through Words #

• Christ teaches the disciples to pray by giving them words: the Our Father and Hail Mary
• The disciples do not at first fully comprehend these words
• Yet by repeating these words and gradually understanding them better, they order their desires and requests to God
• The Psalm passage: “Let the words of my mouth and the thought of my heart find favor before you” shows the proper sequence: words lead the thoughts along
• In Hamlet, the king’s “words without thoughts” do not reach heaven—thought must conform to the words for authentic prayer

The Greek Term λόγος and Its Multiple Meanings #

• The Greek word λόγος (logos) can mean: word, speech, or thought
• In Aristotle’s definitions of definition, statement, and syllogism, λόγος is used as the genus
• The Peri Hermeneias (On Interpretation) makes clear that Aristotle uses λόγος to mean vocal sound in these definitions
• Thomas interprets this concretely, emphasizing the sensible dimension
• This seems to lower logic’s dignity, but it reflects God’s condescension to rational animals: leading them from the sensible to the intelligible

Comparison to the Seven Sacraments #

• The genus of the seven sacraments is sign (Augustine’s definition: that which strikes the senses and brings to mind something other than itself)
• To say “the seven sacraments are seven sensible signs” seems to lower their dignity
• Yet they are sensible signs instituted by Christ to give grace
• Similarly, saying logic concerns vocal sounds is not lowering its dignity; it is recognizing that reason, as the faculty of a sensible creature, must work through sensible means
• God condescends to the nature of rational animals by providing sensible tools for thought

Key Arguments #

How Do We Order Our Thinking? #

1. We order our thinking by ordering our thoughts about things
2. We order our thoughts by ordering the words that signify things and thoughts
3. Words (especially vocal sounds, the original form of words) are the sensible tool we use to order our thoughts
4. Therefore: Logic, in using words to order our thoughts, orders our thinking itself

Why Words Are Necessary for Ordering Thought #

1. Premise 1: Thinking and a thought are not the same; thinking produces thoughts (just as imagining produces images)
2. Premise 2: If we could order our thoughts, our thinking would be ordered
3. Premise 3: Thoughts, being immaterial, cannot be sensed or imagined directly
4. Premise 4: Rational animals, whose natural road is from senses to reason, need something sensible to grasp intelligible things
5. Conclusion: We must use words (sensible vocal sounds that signify thoughts and things) to order our thoughts and thus order our thinking

Important Definitions #

• Name (ὄνομα, nomen): A vocal sound signifying by custom, no part of which signifies by itself
• Speech (λόγος, sermo): A vocal sound signifying by custom, some part of which signifies by itself
• Definition (ὁρισμός, definitio): A speech composed of names that makes known what a thing is
• Statement (ἀπόφανσις, enuntiatio): A speech declaring something as true or false (e.g., “Man is an animal”)
• Syllogism (συλλογισμός, syllogismus): A speech in which certain statements are laid down, and another statement follows necessarily from those laid down
• Sign (Augustine): That which strikes the senses and brings to mind something other than itself
• λόγος (logos): Greek term meaning word, speech, or thought—the genus for definition, statement, and syllogism

Examples & Illustrations #

Teaching Prayer #

• Christ teaches the apostles to pray by providing words: the Our Father and Hail Mary
• A little child learns the Our Father and Hail Mary without fully understanding them at first
• Through repetition and growing comprehension, the child gradually orders their desires and requests to God
• The words come first; understanding follows; desires are thereby ordered

The Psalm on Prayer #

• “Let the words of my mouth and the thought of my heart find favor before you” (Psalm 18)
• The sequence is instructive: words are mentioned first, then thoughts must follow along with them
• For prayer to be efficacious, thought must be conformed to and guided by the words spoken

Hamlet’s Prayer #

• King Claudius attempts to pray after the murder scene but realizes his heart is not truly repentant
• He observes: “My words fly up, my thoughts remain below. Words without thoughts never to heaven go”
• Hamlet considers killing him at prayer, but decides against it, thinking that killing him in prayer would be too merciful—he wants Claudius to be truly relishing in sin
• The king later rises, realizing that “the interim” (the present state) is not conformed to the words he spoke
• The example illustrates that words can be spoken without genuine inward ordering of thought—thought must truly conform to words for authentic effect

Memory and Ordering Images #

• When memorizing something, you order your images
• If you get lost in the middle of a passage while trying to remember, you go back to the beginning and proceed in proper order
• This retrieves the ordered sequence of images, allowing memory to work properly
• The principle: order is essential to remembering and understanding

The Baby’s Cry #

• A baby cries by nature, signifying need (hunger, discomfort, need for diaper change)
• Over time, the baby learns the sequence: diaper change → food → satisfaction
• Once placed on the changing table, the baby stops crying, anticipating what follows
• The baby “looks before and after”—understanding the order of events, the baby no longer needs to cry continuously
• This shows how the understanding of order affects behavior and need

Questions Addressed #

Why does logic concern vocal sounds rather than thoughts directly? #

Resolution: Because rational animals, whose natural epistemic route proceeds from sense to reason, cannot directly sense or imagine thinking. Therefore, reason must use sensible signs—words—to order itself. This is not a lowering of logic’s dignity but reflects the proper accommodation of reason to human nature.

How can words order thoughts if thoughts themselves are not sensible? #

Resolution: Words signify both things and thoughts. Through their signification of thoughts, words bring thoughts to mind. By ordering words (which we can hear and understand), we order the thoughts they signify, and thereby order our thinking about things.

What is the relationship between the three acts of reason and the three tools of logic? #

Resolution: The three acts of reason (understanding essence, understanding truth/falsehood, reasoning) are the inner purpose of logic. The three corresponding tools—definition, statement, and syllogism—are the subject matter of logic. These tools perfect and direct the acts of reason by making them possible and more perfect.

Is it lowering to describe logic as concerning vocal sounds? #

Resolution: No. Just as the sacraments are sensible signs yet are efficacious means of grace, vocal sounds are sensible means by which reason orders itself. This reflects God’s gracious condescension to rational animals, leading them from the sensible to the intelligible.

Connections to Key Texts #

Thomas Aquinas on Aristotle #

• Thomas’s reading of Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, Proem, where the order of reason is discussed
• Thomas emphasizes that reason orders “its thoughts to each other and the signs of thoughts, which are signifying vocal sounds”
• This passage is identified as very subtle and key to understanding how reason orders itself

Aristotle’s Peri Hermeneias #

• The definitions of name, speech, definition, statement, and syllogism all use λόγος as their genus
• Aristotle makes clear that λόγος here means vocal sound (the sensible dimension)
• This is the concrete foundation for all logical operations

Augustine’s Definition of Sign #

• Sign is “that which strikes the senses and brings to mind something other than itself”
• This definition grounds Thomas’s understanding of how vocal sounds function in logic
• Words are signs that bring thoughts and things to mind by striking the ear