Aristotle on Meaning and Essence

Erscheinungsjahr 2002
ISBN: 978-0-19-925673-0
Verlag: OUP Oxford

Buch, Englisch, 426 Seiten, Print PDF, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm, Gewicht: 646 g

David Charles presents a major study of Aristotle's views on meaning, essence, and necessity. Aristotle's discussions of these interconnected topics are central to his account of thought and language, his metaphysics, and his study of biology. They are also of continuing philosophical importance, with considerable relevance for modern debates on these issues. Charles aims, on the basis of a careful and detailed reading of Aristotle's texts, to reach a clear understanding of his distinctive claims and arguments, and to assess their value and significance. He argues that Aristotle's actual account is distinct from the one often described and attacked as 'Aristotelian essentialism'. Indeed, in Charles's view, it enjoys considerable advantages over more recent attempts to formulate and defend essentialist theses.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Charles, David

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Sprachwissenschaft Semantik & Pragmatik
• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Metaphysik, Ontologie
• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Geschichte der Westlichen Philosophie Antike Philosophie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

- 1: Meaning, Essence, and Necessity

- Aristotle on Signification, Understanding, and Thought

- 3: Preparation for the Three-Stage View

- 4: The Signification of Names

- 5: Signification and Thought

- 6: Understanding, Thought, and Meaning

- Aristotle on Definition, Essence, and Natural Kinds

- 8: Demonstration and Definition

- 9: Towards a Unified Theory of Definition

- 10: Explanation and Definition

- 11: Substance, Definition, and Essence

- 12: Biology, Classification, and Essence

- 13: Aristotle's Essentialism

- Appendix 1: Aristotle on the Principle of Non-Contradiction

- Appendix 2: Essence, Necessity, and the Copula