23. Equivocal Names by Reason: Division and Carrying Over

Subscribe in Podcast App | Download Transcript

Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

• Equivocal by Chance vs. by Reason: Distinguishing names with no rational connection between meanings (e.g., “bat” = stick or animal) from names with a rational basis for multiple meanings (equivocal by reason)
• Two Primary Ways Names Become Equivocal by Reason: Division and carrying over
• Division: One thing keeps the common name while another gets a new name
• Carrying Over: A name is transferred from one thing to another through generalization or ratio
• Ratio as Basis for Transfer: How relationships or orders between things allow names to be extended

Key Arguments #

First Way: Division by Addition of Noteworthy Features #

• When one of two things has something noteworthy or distinctive added to the common meaning, it receives a new name
• The thing that adds nothing noteworthy keeps the common name
• Examples:
  • Thumb vs. fingers: Thumb has opposable quality (noteworthy), so gets new name; other fingers keep “finger”
  • Man vs. beast: Man has reason (noteworthy addition), so sometimes distinctly called “man”; beast keeps “animal”
  • Habit vs. disposition: Habit adds firmness/stability (noteworthy), so gets distinct name; temporary disposition keeps “disposition”
  • Kitten vs. cat: Kitten is undeveloped; cat is fully developed; cat keeps common name
  • Boy vs. man: Man is fully developed adult; boy is undeveloped; man keeps common name
  • Tree vs. plant: In nurseries, “plant” often excludes trees (which add noteworthy size/maturity)
  • Person vs. thing: Person adds dignity/reason and will, so distinguished from mere “thing”

Second Way: Division by Perfection vs. Imperfection #

• When one thing has the common meaning fully and perfectly, it keeps the common name
• When another has it only imperfectly or defectively, it receives a new name
• Examples:
  • Understanding (intellectus) vs. Reason (ratio): God and angels understand all at once perfectly; man must reason discursively and imperfectly. Therefore angels/God keep “understanding,” man gets “reason”
  • Syllogism vs. Enthymeme: Syllogism is complete and perfect; enthymeme is incomplete/imperfect argument
  • Induction vs. Example: Complete induction from many cases; example is imperfect induction from one case to another of same kind

Carrying Over by Generalization (Dropping Part of Meaning) #

• A name is carried over to new things by dropping part of its original meaning
• Example—Passion (πάθος/pathos):
  • Original meaning: suffering (being acted upon negatively, changed for the worse)
  • First generalization: being acted upon and changed (drops “for the worse”)
  • Further generalization: sensing (being acted upon by objects, but perfecting rather than harming)
  • Ultimate generalization: understanding (being acted upon/fulfilled by intelligible objects, purely perfective, no change or suffering)
  • The word undergoes dramatic semantic shift from something bad to something supremely good
• Why the original meaning involves negativity: We name things as we know them. Suffering is most obvious to the senses because it is contrary to nature. Pleasant acts (seeing, hearing) don’t make us as aware we are being acted upon
• Property example: “Half of four” is a property of two (only two, always); “less than ten” drops the “only” requirement but still called property

Carrying Over by Ratio (Relationship/Order) #

• Names are transferred based on the relationship or order one thing has to another
• Three types of ratio-based transfer:
  1. Ratio of second to first: One thing is called by a name because of its relationship to what is primarily called by that name
     • Example: Logic called “philosophy” because it is a tool for pursuing philosophy (which is knowledge pursued for its own sake out of wonder)
  2. Other ratios to the same thing: Multiple things called by one name through different relationships to the same primary thing
     • Example: “Healthy” (Aristotle’s famous example)
       • Body is healthy in itself (primary meaning)
       • Diet is healthy because it preserves health of body
       • Exercise is healthy because it preserves or restores health of body
       • Complexion is healthy because it is a sign of health of body
     • Example: Being said of substance and quantity
       • Substance is being in primary sense
       • Quantity is being because it is the measure of substance
       • Quality is being because it is a worthy disposition of substance
  3. Like ratios to other things: Things called by one name through similar proportional relationships to different things
     • Example: “Before”
       • Before in time: A can be without B, but B cannot be without A
       • Before in knowledge: A can be known without B, but B cannot be known without A
       • Similar ratio (one thing dependent on another) even though to different things (time vs. knowledge)

Important Distinctions #

• Same ratio to same thing = Univocal: If two sons both have the same ratio (“son of”) to the same thing (the father), “son” is said univocally
• Other ratios to other things = No basis for equivocation: No rational connection (e.g., “son” and “half of”)
• Other ratios to same thing OR like ratios to different things = Equivocal by reason: Rational basis exists

Important Definitions #

• Equivocal by reason (ἀνάλογος/analogous name): A name with multiple meanings that have a rational connection or basis
• Ratio: The order, relation, or proportion of one thing to another
• Proportion: Originally meant likeness of ratios (ἀναλογία); unfortunately now sometimes means ratio itself, creating ambiguity
• Generalization: Dropping part of a word’s meaning to extend its application
• Carrying over (translatio): Moving a name from one thing to another with modified meaning

Examples & Illustrations #

From Daily Speech #

• “Separate the men from the boys”—division by perfection/development
• Nursery example: distinguishing trees from plants
• Person vs. thing: Person adds dignity (reason and will)
• Woman/girl: Girl becomes woman upon reaching maturity

From Philosophy #

• Aristotle on types of arguments: Sometimes syllogism and induction are the two types; sometimes subdivided into syllogism/enthymeme and induction/example
• Aristotle on healthy: The primary example for ratio-based equivocation
• Aristotle on disposition and habit: In Categories, habit distinguished from disposition as firmer disposition

From Literature/Poetics #

• Tragedy: Othello and King Lear (involuntary downfall, pitiful) vs. Macbeth and Richard III (knowingly choosing evil, still called tragedy but with equivocation)
• The Divine Comedy: Called comedy because it goes from misery (Inferno) to happiness (Paradiso), similar to comedy’s ratio of going from misery to happiness, though not originally a “likeness of the laughable”
• Homer’s Iliad: Sometimes called poem, sometimes distinguished as epic (a longer, more noteworthy type)

Notable Quotes #

“A name becomes equivocal by reason in two ways. And both of these ways are going to subdivide.”

“We name things as we know them, right? And this is very sensible, right? It’s very clear that this is acting upon that.”

“It seems there’s some distinction, however a little, right, in meaning between animal as said of man, and animal as opposed to man.”

“The one that keeps the common name is the one that has fully and perfectly and simply speaking, you might say, common meaning. The other one gets a new name.”

Questions Addressed #

Q: How does equivocal by reason differ from purely equivocal by chance? A: Equivocal by chance has no rational connection between meanings (like “bat”). Equivocal by reason has a rational basis—either one meaning is primary and others derive from it through addition, perfection, generalization, or ratio.

Q: Why does one thing keep the common name while another gets a new name in division? A: The thing that adds nothing noteworthy (first way) or has the meaning fully/perfectly (second way) keeps the common name. The thing that adds something distinctive or has the meaning imperfectly gets a new name.

Q: How is the ratio of “healthy” explained? A: Body is healthy in itself. Diet is healthy because it preserves health (different ratio to same primary thing). Complexion is healthy because it signs health (yet another ratio to same thing). All share rational connection through different relationships to bodily health.

Q: Why does passion (suffering) undergo such radical meaning change? A: The original meaning (suffering, being acted upon negatively) is most knowable to the senses. As we apply the concept to non-harmful actions (sensing) and purely perfective actions (understanding), we drop the element of harm or change, keeping only “being acted upon,” and ultimately only the fulfillment aspect remains.