Aristotle on Ambiguity
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Pantelis Golitsis
Abstract
Aristotle addresses ambiguity proper (παρὰ τὸ διττόν) chiefly in the field of his dialectics, that is, in the Topics and the Sophistical Refutations, but also in the Rhetoric. Ambiguity is seen therein as a sophistical device with which both the dialectician and the philosophically trained rhetorician should be acquainted, so as to rebuke it or to avoid it. At the same time, the notion of ‘said-intwo- senses’ (τὸ διττῶς or διχῶς λεγόμενον) plays a crucial role in Aristotle’s metaphysics without being directly associated with a vice of language or reason. The present paper aims at relating both concepts and at providing the background to their use in Aristotle’s writings.
Abstract
Aristotle addresses ambiguity proper (παρὰ τὸ διττόν) chiefly in the field of his dialectics, that is, in the Topics and the Sophistical Refutations, but also in the Rhetoric. Ambiguity is seen therein as a sophistical device with which both the dialectician and the philosophically trained rhetorician should be acquainted, so as to rebuke it or to avoid it. At the same time, the notion of ‘said-intwo- senses’ (τὸ διττῶς or διχῶς λεγόμενον) plays a crucial role in Aristotle’s metaphysics without being directly associated with a vice of language or reason. The present paper aims at relating both concepts and at providing the background to their use in Aristotle’s writings.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Preface V
- Contents VII
- List of Figures XI
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Part I: Concepts and Aesthetics of Ambiguity
- Modern and Ancient Concepts of Ambiguity 1
- Aristotle on Ambiguity 11
- Intended Ambiguity in Plato’s Phaedo 29
- The Ambiguity of the Unambiguous: Figures of Death in Late Medieval Literature 43
- The Modern Perspective: Ambiguity, Artistic Self-Reference, and the Autonomy of Art 61
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Part II: Playing with Linguistic Ambiguity
- Traversing No-Man’s Land 81
- The Ambiguity of Wisdom: Mētis in the Odyssey 91
- Borges in Alexandria? Modes of Ambiguity in Hellenistic Poetry 101
- Sympotic Sexuality: The Ambiguity of Seafood in Middle Comedy (Nausicrates fr. 1 K.-A.) 123
- Liber esto – Wordplay and Ambiguity in Petronius’ Satyrica 141
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Part III: Ambiguous Narratives
- Half Heroes? Ambiguity in Ovid’s Metamorphoses 157
- Underneath the Arachnean and Minervan Veil of Ambiguity: Cultural and Political Simulatio in Ovidian Ecphrasis 175
- Ambigua Verba, Hidden Desire and Auctorial Intentionality in Some Ovidian Speeches (Met. 3.279−92; 7.810−23; 10.364−6, 440−1) 193
- The Pleasures of Ambiguity: Aristomenes’ Tale of Socrates in Apuleius’ Metamorphoses 207
- Legens. Ambiguity, Syllepsis and Allegory in Claudian’s De Raptu Proserpinae 219
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Part IV: Ambiguity as Argument
- Between Conversion and Madness: Sophisticated Ambiguity in Lucian’s Nigrinus 237
- Catullan Ambiguity 251
- Prophetic, Poetic and Political Ambiguity in Vergil Eclogue 4 273
- Vitae aut vocis ambigua: Seneca the Younger and Ambiguity 285
- Who speaks? – Ambiguity and Vagueness in the Design of Cicero’s Dialogue Speakers 297
- Unsettling Effects and Disconcertment — Strategies of Enacting Interpretations in Tacitusʼ Annals 315
- The Latin Commentary Tradition on ‘Inclusive’ Intended Ambiguity 331
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Part V: Ambiguous Receptions
- Ambivalent Allegories: Giovan Battista Marino’s Adone (1623) between Censorship and Hermeneutic Freedom 351
- Multipliers of Ambiguity: The Use of Quotations in Cavafy’s Poems Concerning the Emperor Julian 365
- Seven Perspectives of Ambiguity and the Problem of Intentionality 381
- List of Contributors 405
- General Index 411
- Index of Passages 417
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Preface V
- Contents VII
- List of Figures XI
-
Part I: Concepts and Aesthetics of Ambiguity
- Modern and Ancient Concepts of Ambiguity 1
- Aristotle on Ambiguity 11
- Intended Ambiguity in Plato’s Phaedo 29
- The Ambiguity of the Unambiguous: Figures of Death in Late Medieval Literature 43
- The Modern Perspective: Ambiguity, Artistic Self-Reference, and the Autonomy of Art 61
-
Part II: Playing with Linguistic Ambiguity
- Traversing No-Man’s Land 81
- The Ambiguity of Wisdom: Mētis in the Odyssey 91
- Borges in Alexandria? Modes of Ambiguity in Hellenistic Poetry 101
- Sympotic Sexuality: The Ambiguity of Seafood in Middle Comedy (Nausicrates fr. 1 K.-A.) 123
- Liber esto – Wordplay and Ambiguity in Petronius’ Satyrica 141
-
Part III: Ambiguous Narratives
- Half Heroes? Ambiguity in Ovid’s Metamorphoses 157
- Underneath the Arachnean and Minervan Veil of Ambiguity: Cultural and Political Simulatio in Ovidian Ecphrasis 175
- Ambigua Verba, Hidden Desire and Auctorial Intentionality in Some Ovidian Speeches (Met. 3.279−92; 7.810−23; 10.364−6, 440−1) 193
- The Pleasures of Ambiguity: Aristomenes’ Tale of Socrates in Apuleius’ Metamorphoses 207
- Legens. Ambiguity, Syllepsis and Allegory in Claudian’s De Raptu Proserpinae 219
-
Part IV: Ambiguity as Argument
- Between Conversion and Madness: Sophisticated Ambiguity in Lucian’s Nigrinus 237
- Catullan Ambiguity 251
- Prophetic, Poetic and Political Ambiguity in Vergil Eclogue 4 273
- Vitae aut vocis ambigua: Seneca the Younger and Ambiguity 285
- Who speaks? – Ambiguity and Vagueness in the Design of Cicero’s Dialogue Speakers 297
- Unsettling Effects and Disconcertment — Strategies of Enacting Interpretations in Tacitusʼ Annals 315
- The Latin Commentary Tradition on ‘Inclusive’ Intended Ambiguity 331
-
Part V: Ambiguous Receptions
- Ambivalent Allegories: Giovan Battista Marino’s Adone (1623) between Censorship and Hermeneutic Freedom 351
- Multipliers of Ambiguity: The Use of Quotations in Cavafy’s Poems Concerning the Emperor Julian 365
- Seven Perspectives of Ambiguity and the Problem of Intentionality 381
- List of Contributors 405
- General Index 411
- Index of Passages 417
