The Role of'Denotatur' in Ockham's Theory of Supposition.

In the scholarship on medieval logic and semantics of the last decades, Ockham's the-ory of supposition is probably the most extensively studied version of such theories; yet, it seems that we still do not fully understand all its intricacies. In this paper, I focus on a phrase that occurs countless...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:Vivarium Vol. 51; no. 1-4; pp. 352 - 371
Autor principal: Novaes, Catarina Dutilh
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Brill Academic Publishers 2013
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Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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Sumario:In the scholarship on medieval logic and semantics of the last decades, Ockham's the-ory of supposition is probably the most extensively studied version of such theories; yet, it seems that we still do not fully understand all its intricacies. In this paper, I focus on a phrase that occurs countless times throughout Ockham's writings, but in particu-lar in the sections dedicated to supposition in the Summa logicae: the phrase 'denotatur'. 1 claim that an adequate understanding of the role of the concept of denotatur within Ockham's supposition theory shall yield a deeper understanding of the theory as a whole. Here, I first examine a few uses of the term 'denotatur1 and its variants by other authors. I then turn to Ockham: first I briefly mention some uses of the term in contexts other than his theory of supposition. Following that, I focus on his supposition theory, in particular on how 'denotatur' allows him to deal with two crucial puzzles, namely the supposition of empty terms and the supposition of terms in false affirmative proposi-tions. The treatment of these two puzzles suggests that Ockham's theory of supposition must be understood as a theory chiefly intended for the generation of the meanings of propositions.