Page 516 - Encyclopedia of Philosophy of Language

Key Figures
ness; 'white' signifies only the quality-category and the dependence structure of this quality, but it does not signify the subject-category on which the quality depends (see Henry 1967:31-116).
The late thirteenth century witnessed a renewed interest in the semantics of denominative terms. Four theories were generally discussed (see Ebbesen 1988:117-44). First, according to Avicenna, 'white' signifies the combination of subject and quality, but the subject primarily and the quality only secondarily. This appeal to an ontological priority of the subject was generally rejected in the thirteenth century with an argument stemming from Averroes: if'white' signified primarily the subject, it could be replaced by 'white body' so that we could form the proposition 'Socrates is a white body.' But again, 'white,' signifying pri- marily the body, is replaceable so that we could say 'Socrates is a white body body,' and so on to infinity. Second, according to the modistic approach accepted by Boethius of Dacia (fl.1275) and Duns Scotus, 'white' signifies only the quality, but by its mode of signifying it makes one understand the subject in
which the quality inheres. Obviously, this position presupposes that denominative terms have a peculiar mode of signifying distinct from the modes of other terms, and it claims that the quality can be signified in a distinct way. The latter claim relies on the assump- tion—criticized by opponents—that a quality has two ways of being, namely, in its pure essence (essentid) and in its existing essence (esse essentiae); beingwhite in the first way is signified by 'whiteness,' in the second way by 'white.' Third, Siger of Brabant (ca.1240- 84) and Siger of Courtrai (d.1341) held that 'white' signifies both subject and quality, each under its own ratio, but the quality primarily and the subject sec- ondarily. Finally, Simon of Faversham (ca.1260- 1306) and Radulphus Brito (d.1320) held that 'white' signifies both subject and quality and both under the ratio of the quality. The last two theories make the controversial claim that the ratio of a subject or qual- ity, i.e., its nature expressed by the definition, is onto- logically distinguishable from the subject or the quality itself.
The controversy on denominative terms illustrates that medieval philosophy of language was not con- fined to a purely semantical analysis of language. In examining the question of how such terms signify things, the medievals sought to reach an answer to the question of what these and other terms signify. An understanding of the structure and functions of lan- guage was not a goal in itself. It was rather supposed to give some insight into the structure of reality and into the linguistic representation of this structure. Therefore it is important to see medieval philosophy of language not as an isolated discipline, but as a philosophical field interrelated with others (above all ontology and epistemology), aiming at giving a com- prehensive description of reality.
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