12. Law, Equivocation, and the Analogy of Terms

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Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

The Origin and Transfer of Terminology #

• Law: Originally refers to human regulation in society (driving on right vs. left side of street)
• When regularities were discovered in nature, scientists borrowed the word ’law’ to describe them
• This is an analogical transfer—the word ’law’ is not used univocally but analogously
• Similar transfers occur with: obedience, debt, jump, compensate

Why We Don’t Call Scientists ‘Lawyers’ #

• The original meaning of ’law’ retains primacy in our thinking
• A biologist talking about ’laws of physics’ is using the word in a derived, not primary, sense
• This shows we intuitively understand the analogical nature of the term

The Problem of Equivocation #

• Equivocation: Using the same word in different senses within an argument, creating logical confusion
• Example: “All Catholics are good; Mary is good; therefore Mary is a Catholic” (confusion between ‘good’ in moral sense and being ‘good’ in a category)
• Amphiboly: Ambiguity in sentence structure leading to multiple interpretations
• Shakespeare’s pun on ‘general’ vs. ‘in general’ in Troilus and Cressida illustrates the distinction between what is said of all and what is the cause of all

The ‘General’ and ‘In General’ Distinction #

• ‘Soldier’ is said of all (every soldier in an army)
• ‘General’ is the cause of all (the commanding officer who directs the whole army)
• Confusion between these leads to pantheism and false identification of God with being itself
• Example: Confusing ‘what is said of all things’ (being) with ‘what is the cause of all things’ (God)

Modern Examples of Equivocation #

• Scientists speak of electrons ‘obeying’ laws—borrowing language from human obedience
• Physicists use the word ‘jump’ (quantum jump)—borrowed from physical movement
• The word ‘spirit’ originally referred to breath/air (Latin: spiritus) but is applied to immaterial substances

Pantheism and the Confusion of Terms #

• Hegel’s error: Identifying being that is said of all things with God (the cause of all things)
• Hegel’s being is so vague it seems to say nothing—‘being passes into non-being’
• This creates the appearance of contradiction that Aristotle refutes in Physics VI
• Thomas Aquinas: God is not the esse of all beings; God causes being but is not identical to being itself
• De Tocqueville notes that democratic culture naturally tends toward pantheistic notions of God
• Modern scientists like Einstein sometimes fall into pantheistic language (calling God ‘pantheistic’)

Shakespeare’s Intellectual Use of Puns and Equivocation #

• Shakespeare’s pun in Troilus and Cressida: Cressida is kissed by the general (Agamemnon) but not yet by ’the general’ (in general/by everyone)
• This is not mere wordplay but recognition of different meanings
• Similar plays on ‘ground’ (cause) and ‘understand’ (to stand under/to grasp a cause)
• Shakespeare demonstrates intellectual superiority to modern thinkers who mix up meanings without recognizing it
• The pun forces the mind to stop and recognize distinct meanings

The Wisdom of Greek Conciseness #

• The Greeks could express much in few words, keeping wisdom alive
• Modern writers use many words to say little, killing wisdom through verbosity
• One sentence from the Greeks can be expanded like a seed, revealing multiple layers of meaning

Key Arguments #

1. Analogical terminology is unavoidable but must be recognized

   • We cannot help but borrow words from familiar contexts (human society) to describe new phenomena (natural regularities)
   • However, we must be conscious of this transfer to avoid equivocation
   • The failure to recognize analogical language leads to logical and philosophical errors

2. Equivocation produces philosophical error, particularly regarding pantheism

   • Confusing what is said of all (being) with what is the cause of all (God) leads directly to pantheism
   • This confusion is not accidental but endemic to democratic and modern thought
   • Proper philosophical thinking requires distinguishing these two senses

3. The general vs. in general distinction is crucial

   • ‘Soldier’ (what is said of all) ≠ ‘General’ (the cause/commander of all)
   • By analogy: being (what is said of all things) ≠ God (the cause of all things)
   • Failure to maintain this distinction produces pantheism

Important Definitions #

• Analogical transfer: Using a word in a new context where it partially applies based on similarity to the original context
• Equivocation (λόγος / logos with multiple senses): Using the same word in different senses within an argument, creating false conclusions
• Amphiboly: Structural ambiguity in language that permits multiple interpretations
• Univocal: Said in exactly the same sense
• What is said of all (κατὰ πάντων / kata pantōn): A predicate that applies to every member of a class
• Cause of all (αἴτιον πάντων / aition pantōn): That which brings all things into being or order
• Pantheism: The false doctrine that God is identical with the totality of being or nature
• Esse (being/existence): In Thomistic philosophy, the act of existence itself

Examples & Illustrations #

1. Traffic laws: Driving on the right in the US, on the left in England—the word ’law’ originally means human regulation; when applied to regularities in nature, it is analogical

2. The physicist’s language: Scientists say electrons ‘obey’ laws and make ‘quantum jumps’—both words borrowed from human experience

3. Oxygen debt and sleep debt: The word ‘debt’ originally refers to what is owed in justice; we extend it to biological compensation without stopping to think about the analogy

4. Shakespeare’s pun on ‘general’: In Troilus and Cressida, when Cressida is kissed by General Agamemnon but has not yet been kissed ‘in general’ (by everyone), Shakespeare’s wordplay illustrates the distinction between a particular office holder and a universal quality

5. Army analogy: A soldier is ‘said of all’ (every member is a soldier), but the General is the ‘cause of all’ (commands the entire army)—not every soldier is a general

6. The word ‘spirit’: Originally spiritus (breath/air)—a material but nearly imperceptible substance. Extended to immaterial realities (God, angels) because it was already nearly imperceptible despite being material

Notable Quotes #

“The law produces a certain regularity in the way people drive. And so when they turned their minds to the natural world, and they found certain regularities in the natural world, they had no name for that. So they borrowed the word law and spoke of a law of nature.”

“You don’t stop and think about the fact that we carry words over like that.” — On analogical language

“Thomas says…God is not the esse of all beings. There’s many reasons for this, but essentially you’re confusing what is said of all with what is a cause of all.” — On pantheism

“I enjoy putting out that Shakespeare sees the difference between these two, and therefore he’s wiser than Hegel.” — On recognizing philosophical distinctions

“Being passes into non-being, and then you get becoming, a mixture of being and non-being…He makes the old mistake there that Aristotle refutes in the sixth book of the Physics.” — On Hegel’s error

Questions Addressed #

Q: Why don’t we call physicists ’lawyers’ even though they constantly speak of ’laws’?

• A: Because we intuitively retain the original meaning of ’law’ (human regulation); we recognize the term is being used analogously, not univocally

Q: How do scientists speak of electrons ‘obeying’ laws or making ‘jumps’?

• A: They borrow words from human experience (obedience, jumping) and apply them to natural phenomena that partially resemble the original contexts

Q: What is the philosophical danger in confusing ‘what is said of all’ with ‘what is the cause of all’?

• A: It leads directly to pantheism—the false identification of God with being itself or with nature as a whole

Q: How does Shakespeare’s pun on ‘general’ vs. ‘in general’ illuminate philosophical truth?

• A: It forces the mind to recognize that these are genuinely different meanings—one refers to a particular office, the other to a universal property—a distinction crucial for avoiding pantheism

Q: Is Hegel guilty of equivocation?

• A: Yes—his notion of being is so confused and vague that it seems to say nothing. He conflates what is said of all with what causes all, leading to the false claim that being passes into non-being

Key Philosophical Principles #

• Recognition of analogical language is essential to correct thinking: We naturally extend terms from familiar to unfamiliar domains, but must remain conscious of this extension
• Logical precision requires attention to multiple meanings: Equivocation is a subtle error but has profound consequences, especially in theology
• Pantheism arises from linguistic confusion, not genuine insight: The tendency to identify God with universal being stems from failure to distinguish cause from what is caused
• Great thinkers (like Shakespeare) use language more carefully than they are given credit for: His puns are not merely entertaining but philosophically instructive