The Semantics of Analogy: Rereading Cajetan's De Nominum Analogia

Introduction: Some Theoretical and Historical Preliminaries

—  Introduction Some Theoretical and Historical Preliminaries This introduction is intended to orient those readers who may not already be familiar with discussions of the history of analogy and the place of Cajetan’s treatise within that history. It first presents a brief overview of some of the key concepts covered by the term ‘analogy,’ not in specific matters of theology or metaphysics, but in considera­ tions of language, logic, and judgment about the world. It then gives an abbreviated history of thought about analogy before Cajetan, and outlines the central claims for which Cajetan’s treatise has been known. Preliminary Concepts: Nongeneric Likeness and Associated Meaning We must recognize at the beginning that it would be misleading to speak of “the” concept of analogy. What philosophers have come to treat under the aegis of “analogy” has no single stable meaning. Although an identifiable, coherent stream of philosophizing eventually emerges, it begins, historically and conceptually, from two distinct and quite separate tributaries. The first is a matter of relationships between things. Consider two things that seem to be similar, although the respect in which they  — Introduction are similar is difficult to characterize or define. So, for instance, the items in the following pairs seem to be similar: 1. The feathers of a bird and the scales of a reptile 2. Water for a fish and air for a mammal 3. The sole of a foot and the palm of a hand In each of these cases, the comparison is apparent, although perhaps difficult to characterize. Indeed, a definition of the basis of comparison may be somewhat awkward, vague, or even elusive. Awkward: feathers and scales are both kinds of flat, overlapping skin coverings. Vague: water and air are the appropriate oxygenating environments for fish and mammals, respectively. Elusive: the sole is the bottom of the foot, but the palm is not the bottom of a hand; we might call the palm the inside of the hand, but not the sole the inside of the foot. But it is interesting that the relevant likeness is easily seen even if we don’t have a readily available word or description for it. There is a functional similarity, not a precise equality: we do not say that the sole and the palm are the same, or that they have the same property, but that the sole is to the foot as the palm is to the hand. It is easier to describe these likenesses in terms of comparisons of relationships than in terms of some univocal features or common qualities equally realized in them. Feathers are like scales insofar as they each play a similar role for birds and reptiles respectively. Water is like air insofar as they each play a similar function in relation to different respective creatures. Let us call cases like these occasions of nongeneric likeness. Now consider another phenomenon, this one not so much a matter of how things are related, but of how words are used. We often use the same word on different occasions, where the meaning implied by one use is close, but not identical, to the meaning implied by another use. For examples, consider the italicized words in the following pairs of statements: 4. Socrates is wise; Socrates’ advice is wise 5. This is a commercial transaction; this is commercial real estate 6. I saw the moment of impact; the impact of the policy was increased productivity Introduction —  At first one might not notice that the italicized words in each pair have different meanings. These are not cases where the words play different grammatical functions. (‘Commercial’ can be used as a noun, but it is an adjective in both statements above; ‘impact’ is sometimes employed as a verb, but it serves as a noun in both statements above.) And yet, on reflection, it is clear that a definition offered to account for one use might not fit the other use. Socrates and his advice are not “wise” in the same way: presumably Socrates has wisdom whereas his advice is either evidence of his wisdom or is likely to produce wisdom in one who follows it. The word ‘commercial’ as an adjective can describe what is an instance of, or an instrument of (or a product of, etc.), the activity of commerce. The noun ‘impact’ can designate either the act of producing an effect, or the effect itself. (Here I set aside what may be...