52. Equivocation, Amphiboly, and the Fallacy of Figure of Speech

Subscribe in Podcast App | Download Transcript

Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

Equivocation vs. Amphiboly #

• Equivocation: One name with multiple actual meanings (e.g., “being,” “before,” “in”)
  • Every respectable word in philosophy is equivocal by reason
  • The equivocation exists in the name itself
• Amphiboly: A complete speech or utterance with multiple meanings
  • Differs from equivocation because the multiplicity affects the whole sentence, not just one word
  • Example: “I saw you laying down” (ambiguous about who is laying down)

Connected Senses and Amphiboly in Scripture #

• The term “word of God” exemplifies amphiboly:
  • Can mean the Bible (Scripture)
  • Can mean the Son of God (Christ)
  • Both senses are connected through the Incarnation
  • Just as Christ took on human flesh, Scripture takes on human language with its equivocities and metaphors

Wisdom of Nature and Wisdom of Reason #

• “Wisdom of nature” (σοφία φύσεως) has connected senses:
  • First sense: wisdom about nature (natural philosophy)
  • Second sense: the wisdom that nature reveals in its operations
  • Citation of Heraclitus: “Wisdom is to speak the truth and to act in accord with nature, giving ear thereto”
• “Wisdom of reason” similarly has multiple legitimate senses:
  • The third book of Aristotle’s De Anima (investigating reason itself)
  • First philosophy/metaphysics (wisdom that reason acquires)
  • Logic (philosophy that directs reason)

The Fallacy of Figura Dictionis (Figure of Speech) #

• Fallacies arising from the form of diction itself
• Distinguished from fallacies arising from things (fallaciae extra dictionem)
• Key fallacy: Words with the same ending (-ING) appearing to belong to the same category when they belong to different ones

Categories and Deception #

• Walking: belongs to category of where (position), not action
  • When walking into a room, one is not entirely there; changing position is an imperfect state
  • Place is a species of continuous quantity, not action
• Learning: belongs to category of quality (acquiring a disposition), not action
• Standing/sitting: belong to category of position (posture)
• “Excelling” and “dwelling” both end in -ING but belong to different predicaments

The Category of Relation (Prosti/Towards Something) #

• Aristotle does not name this category “relation” but prosti (towards something)
• Albert the Great translates it as ad aliquid (toward something)
• Examples: being double, being half, being a grandfather, being a husband, being a teacher
• Strange reality: One can be taller than one’s child, then shorter, with no change in oneself (only the child growing)
• Theological application: The distinction between Father and Son in the Trinity cannot be material but must be formal—by relation of “towards something”

Key Arguments #

Why Equivocation and Amphiboly Matter #

• Understanding these fallacies prevents logical errors
• Words with the same form can deceive the mind into placing them in the same category
• Example: “excelling” and “dwelling” share the -ING ending but signify different predicaments

The Nature of Immaterial Operations #

• Kicking: Action that proceeds from agent into patient; it is between us
• Seeing: Does NOT proceed from eye to object like kicking
  • The object’s color and size act upon the eye (union first)
  • From this union, the act of seeing results
  • Seeing is a union, not a transmission from me to you
• The average person (untutored in philosophy) might imagine seeing as proceeding from the eye like kicking
• This distinction reveals the nature of immaterial operations (knowing, loving) versus material operations

The Six Categories of Fallacies from Speech #

• Reduced to three main categories
• Two main divisions:
  1. Equivocation (one name, multiple meanings)
  2. Amphiboly (one speech, multiple meanings)

Important Definitions #

Equivocation #

• The diverse signification of one and the same name, where the name actually possesses multiple meanings
• “Every respectable word in philosophy is a word equivocal by reason” (citing his teacher Deconic)
• Distinguished from univocation (one meaning applied to multiple subjects) and from analogy

Amphiboly #

• A complete speech or utterance that has multiple meanings
• Can arise from:
  • Actual multiplicity (the speech genuinely has multiple senses)
  • Composition and division (how the speech can be parsed)
  • Pronunciation or accent

Prosti (Towards Something) #

• The relation of one thing toward another
• Not absolute but fundamentally relational
• Examples: father-to-son, teacher-to-students, husband-to-wife
• Theologically significant for understanding the Trinity

Figura Dictionis #

• Fallacy arising from the figure or form of speech itself
• Includes equivocation, amphiboly, and deceptions from the structure of language
• Distinguished from fallacies arising from extra-linguistic reality

Examples & Illustrations #

Shakespeare’s Use of the Word of God #

• Amphiboly: “word of God” can mean Bible or the Son of God
• Vatican II document Verbum Dei parallels the Incarnation with Scripture’s incarnation in human language
• Connection: As Christ took on human nature, Scripture takes on human language with all its equivocities

The -ING Ending Deception #

• Walking, standing, learning, excelling, dwelling all end in -ING
• Yet they belong to different categories:
  • Walking → where (position/place)
  • Standing → position (posture)
  • Learning → quality (acquiring disposition)
  • Excelling/dwelling → different predicaments
• Mind can be deceived into grouping them together

Seeing vs. Kicking #

• Kicking: Proceeds from me into you; is between us as an action
• Seeing: Result of union (your color acting on my eye); not a transmission from me to you
• The untutored mind might imagine both work similarly
• Philosophically significant: Reveals nature of immaterial operations

Categories and Position #

• “Place” is NOT a category name in Aristotle; he uses concrete names: where (ποῦ) and when (πότε)
• These are species of continuous quantity, not separate categories
• Roman Kusurik impressed this on Berquist in his freshman year of college
• Important for avoiding confusion about what category something belongs to

The Trinity and Relation #

• Father and Son distinction cannot be material (based on continuous quantity like Euclid’s bisection)
• Must be formal distinction by opposites
• Specifically by relation (prosti/towards something)
• Example of relational reality: One can be taller than one’s child, then shorter, with no change in oneself—only because the child grew

Notable Quotes #

“Every respectable word in philosophy is a word, equivocal, by reason.” — Duane Berquist, citing his teacher Deconic

“Just as Christ took on human flesh and became truly a man, so the word of God, the Bible, takes on the human way of speaking, and therefore has words that are equivocal by reason, has metaphors and other things that human language has.” — Duane Berquist, on Vatican II’s Verbum Dei

“Wisdom is to speak the truth and to act in accord with nature, giving ear thereto.” — Heraclitus, cited by Berquist

Questions Addressed #

How do we distinguish equivocation from amphiboly? #

• Equivocation affects a single name; amphiboly affects a complete utterance
• Both can have multiple meanings, but equivocation resides in the name itself
• Amphiboly arises from how a complete speech can be parsed or understood

Why does the -ING ending create deception? #

• Words ending in -ING appear superficially similar
• Yet they belong to different categories
• The mind, seeing the same linguistic form, imagines them to be in the same predicament
• Examples: walking (where), learning (quality), excelling (different category than dwelling)

What is the philosophical importance of distinguishing seeing from kicking? #

• Reveals that immaterial operations (knowing, loving) work differently from material actions
• Seeing involves union with the object, not transmission from eye to object
• The object acts upon the sense; the sense does not project outward
• Helps clarify the nature of immaterial operations in the soul

How does the category of relation (prosti) apply to the Trinity? #

• The Father and Son are distinguished by relation (towards something), not by material division
• This relation is formal and real, not accidental
• A relational distinction shows how two things can be really distinct yet not divided by quantity or quality
• The distinction is: Father towards Son, Son towards Father

Why is understanding categories essential for logic? #

• Prevents equivocation from deceiving us
• Words signifying through different categories can be mistaken for univocal terms
• Clarity about categories prevents fallacies from speech
• Logic directs the mind toward truth by clarifying how things are said