vivarium - vol xlvi, no 2, 2008

8/9/2019 Vivarium - Vol Xlvi, No 2, 2008

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VIVARIUM

An nternational ournal or hePhilosophynd Intellectual ife f heMiddle

Ages nd Renaissance

Aims ScopeVivariums an internationalournal edicated o the history f philosophyndthe history f deasfrom heearlyMiddleAges o the arly-moderneriod. ttakes particularnterestntheprofane ide f philosohynd ts elationshipithother reas f thought nd learning rom hese eriods. t is widely ecognizedas an unrivalled esourceor he history f ogic, emanticsnd metaphysics.tpublishes hilosophicalnalyses s well s historical tudies f deas, exts ndthe nstitutional ontext f medievalnd

early-modernhoughtnd

earning.t

alsowelcomesditions f texts. t publishes nnually specialssuedevoted oa particular heme r philosopher.

EditorL.W. Nauta Groningen)

EditorialBoardL.M. deRijk Leiden), .A.G.BraakhuisNijmegen),.H.KneepkensGroningen),W.J. ourtenay Madison), .P. Bos Leiden) nd D. Perler Berlin).

Advisory ommitteeT. GregoryRome), . ZimmermannCologne), .E.MurdochCambridge, A).

Instructions orAuthorsContributions o the ournal hould e sent s an e-mail ttachment nd paperversion o LodiNauta,Faculty f Philosophy, niversity f Groningen, udeBoteringestraat2,9712GLGroningen, [email protected]).style heet s availablet www.brill.nl/vivr canbeobtained rom he ditor.

Contributions ust e written nEnglishUKorUS),French r German; heymust e grammaticallynd tylisticallyorrect. anuscripts ust e clearlyype-

written ith umbered ages, ouble pacing ndwidemargins hroughout. sefootnotes, ot ndnotes. itle ndname f he uthor hould ppear naseparatetitle age n order o facilitate nonymous eer-review.ach article hould eaccompaniedy 10-line bstract, hich hould tate he principal onclusionsof he aper nd2-6keywords,or ndexing urposes;oth bstract ndkeywordsshould e n English.

Authors f accepted ontributions eceivene set of proofs or roofreading.The publisher eservesheright ocharge uthors or orrections ade o theproofs ther han orrectionsf rrors hat ccurredn the ypesettingr conver-sionprocess.

Authors eceivecomplimentaryopy f he ssue n which heir rticle ppears(in the ase of multi-authoredontributions, opies re ent o the first-namedauthor) s well s a PDF file f heir ontribution or rivate irculation.

Vivariumprint SSN0042-7543,nlineSSN1 68-5349)spublishedtimes yearbyBrill, lantijnstraat, 2321JCLeiden, heNetherlands,el 31 0)715353500,fax 31 (0)715317532.


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far-reaching mplications, he most important f which consists n theidentification f the path to happinesswith the acquisition f knowledge.Furthermore,ust s this metaphor peaks fonly single arbour nd a singleshore,wemust onclude hat here sonly single pplicablemethod, amelyphilosophy,nd a single oal n the earch orwisdom, amely, he ne truth.However,f man can attain happiness nly through inding and attaining)theonetruth, hen he ntriguing uestion rises f what xactly hat ruth sThepresent tudy ocusesn ust this uestion. hisfocus, owever, s deter-minedbycertain eculiaritiesesulting rom he fact hat ruth, s expressedbyAugustinemetaphor, an be attained nly hrough nowledge.

Here, hefollowinghree tandard bservations ust be made:first f all,knowledges notable for being t the nterface f things r matters f fact(objects), nd the cognitivemental cts of knowing ubjects) hat refer othose bjects. econdly, hesemental cts have pecific ontents hat must eexpressedn sentencesn order o be communicated o other ubjects. his salsorequired, hirdly, f one wishes o determine he truth r falsity f theknowledgehus cquired. onsequently hequestion f truth n ts pistemicdimension ecessarilynvolves t least wo pheres: n the onehand, he in-guistic-semanticphere, ncluding herelationship etween inguistic igns,their ignificationnd truth; nd on the other and,the ontologicalphere,embracinghe onnection etween bjects, heir ntologicalonstitution ndtruth. heseperspectivesre reflectedn the twofold ivision f our article.While the first art ddresses hequestion f the relationship etween ign,significationnd truth n ts inguistic-semanticimension,he econd ectionbrings heontologicalideof thematter o the fore.2

Augustine iscusses heproblem fknowledgend truth rom oth f hese

perspectives,s is

perhapswell-known.

owever,s we shall

ryo showwith

our tudy, hese erspectivesepresentwocomplements hich ogetheron-stitute ugustine complex otion f truth. s s evident rom is early hilo-sophicalwritings, hisnotion s based n extra-mentalhings nd presupposessensory erception s the starting oint for he process f cognition. ever-theless, t is an intelligible ruthwhich an be known with ertainty nd isfurthermore ommunicable. he keynotionwewill lucidaten this onnec-tion s Augustines oncept f significationwhichnot onlybridges hegap

2)This ubdivisionorrespondsoour espectiveesponsibilitiesnthe ompositionf hispaper.he irst art f tsmain odys he orkf aurent esalli,hileheecondelongsoNadja ermann.


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between he emiotic evel f inguisticxpressionsndknowledgebout hosethings owhich anguage efers, ut alsoconnects heonticwith he ntelli-gibleside of things. his double function f significationwhich s baseduponAugustinefundamental istinction etween igna ata and signanatutalia*willbe brought olight nd studied n greater etail.On thisbasisweshallargue that Augustine, ith respect o the acquisition f knowledgethrough enseperception s wellas to the communicabilityf knowledge,sfar ess keptical han susually ssumed.3

In order o developthis hitherto nderacknowledgedeculiarity f histhought ewill,firstly, oncentrate n the earliest f the writings elevantoourdiscussion, amely, ontra cadmicoswhich ppears o ead to askepticaldead-endwith respect o the heer ttainability f knowledge. oraccordingto this ext, heonly ruthsmancanobtain, part rom ntrospectiveecogni-tion, are logical-mathematicalautologies. e dialcticasecondly, rittenshortly fter ontra cadmicoswillreveal solution o the problem fhowtocommunicate nowledge. e musicathirdly, hemost recent f our texts,evenprovides n explanationoncerning hecertain ognition f ntelligibletruths nherent o extra-mental

eality. urthermore,t

mpartsn at east

ar-tialescapefrom ontta cadmicospparent ead-end, yoffering furthermeans or he nterpretion f mathematicalruths.

1. From Linguistic-Semanticoint ofView

We would ike o openthe linguistic-semantic"art fourdiscussion ith nanachronistic bservation; ne however, hat s of central mportance orgrasping herelationship etween ignificationnd truth. When computerscientists re asked whether r not we will soon be able to workwith man-made machines apableof developing heirown languages, he standardanswer s the following:n order o build computers apableof developingtheir wn anguages,henature f human anguagemust irst e understood.However, ewillonlyhaveunderstood he nature f human anguage ncewe are ble to give scientific escription f the ualitative ifferenceetween

3)Thats, nphilosophicalrounds.or t s clearhat ven herehe kepsiseemsohaveannihilatedhe opef ertain nowledgey uman eanslone, ugustinelwayseaveshedoor pen ornothertheological)ypef ertainnowledge,ee h. hrer,ugustinontraAcadmicosel eAcademicis,cherund ,EinleitungndKommentarBerlin-Nework,1997),1 qq.


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toAugustine,he keptic position an be summed p as follows:incenoth-ing can be known with certainty y our senses,nor anything udgedwithcertainty y urreason, ehavenoadequate rounds nwhich o base ssent.9This mounts osaying hat ertain nowledge,hat s,cognition f truth, sunachievable.ow,Augustine intention snothing ther han he refutationof kepticism.10n fact, ismain hesis n Contra cadmicoss that knowledgeispossible nd truth an therefore ecognized.11he reason or ejectingheskeptic philosophical osition s inked, n the ne hand, oAugustineownintellectually otivated uestfor ruth nd, on the other and, o the ncom-patibility f skepticismnd faith, s faith eems ndeed opresupposessent.However,ccording oAugustine, hemere uestfor ruth s insufficient orhumanhappiness, hichwillonlybe achieved nce truth as actually eenfound.12

The cenario epictedn Contracadmicoseflectshehistoricalebatewhichtookplacebetweenmembers f themiddle nd newAcademy,uch s Archesi-laus and Carneades,nd Stoic philosophers,uchas Zeno and Chrysippus.13Whatwasat stake n that ebate was thevalidity f the o-called toic riterionof ruth. his riterion,n

Augustineswnwords,s as follows:

Contracadmicoscit. .3above),1-33,swell sKurt lasch,ugustin.infiihrungn einDenkenDarmstadt,994),6 nd 5 q.9)Augustine,ontracadmicos,I,5,11.10) ote hat ugustine'sositionowardshemiddlend ew cademicss mbiguous:n heonehand, e shostileo kepticismecausetdiscouragesumaneingsntheiregitimatequestor ruth;n he ther and, ugustineelieveshe cademicsad n soteric,enuinePlatonicoctrinend hat heynfact riedohide heiruthentichilosophyehindveil fskepticismsee ugustine,ontracadmicos,I, 10, 4and II, 17, 8).n)Augustine,ontracadmicos,I,9,23.12)Augustine,ontracadmicos,, 9, 24-25.13)eeAugustine'swn istoricalonsiderationsn he opicnContracadmicos,I,4, 10-6,15.Just s the hesis f theAcademicshat ruth annot e knowntandsnoppositiontoAugustine'siew,o s hematerialismf he toics ncompatibleith is hilosophicalneo-Platonic)rientation.ne houldddhere hat ugustine'sain ccess o ancient reekandHellenistichilosophyas rovidedy he ritingsfCicero106-43),imselfn clecticphilosopherhowingympathyor oth toicsndAcademics.hat ugustineaddirect

knowledgefStoic hilosophy,owever,s evidencedn the bvious toic haracterfhisDe dialcticasee elow,.9-15)ndhismentionContraresconium,, 19, 4)ofhavingread ome ibri toicorumsee he ntroductionnPinborg,e dialcticacit. .5 above).For he nfluencef toic hilosophynAugustine,eeM.Colish,he toic raditionromAntiquityo he arly iddleges,vols,Leiden,985)ol., 329 q. nd ol. I, 142-238,esp. 81-198.


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Asfor heir pinionhat ruthould ot eperceived,heypparendyookhis romhefamousefinitionf he toic, eno, ho aid hat ruthould eperceivedhat as oimpressedn the mind rom he ourcef ts rigin,hat t could ot riginateromwhencetdidnot riginate.his an e tated ore rieflynd lainlyn he ollowingway:ruthan eperceivedy hoseignshatannotepresentnwhatsnot rue.14

That which is impressed n the mind" s a presentation in the technicalvocabularyf the Stoics, phantasia, ow,aphantasiawhich xists n suchwaythat t can arise nly from he object t representsnd no other, s onewhich an serve s the

dequate bjectf ourassent. uch a

phantasias then

calledaphantasia ataleptike a comprehensiveresentation.15or that rea-son, t alsoqualifiess "true". s can be inferred rom heopening ines f thetext ust quoted, the Academics eveloped heir wn skeptical osition nreaction o the toic riterion f truth. here annot e such thing s aphan-tasiakataleptikesay heAcademics,inceneither ur enses or ur reason reable to distinguish etween comprehensivend a non-comprehensivere-sentation.

Augustine owmounts twofold ritique f the Academics,artly econ-

structive nd partly onstructive.16irst f all,on the negative ide,he pur-ports o show he nconsistencyf heAcademiccritique f he toic riterionof truth, s formulated yZeno;second, eintends o show n a positive aywherethat s, n whichdomainof human understanding,ertainknowledgecanbeattained.

In hisdeconstructiveriticism f theAcademics, ugustine oints owardsa dilemma romwhichno skeptical hilosopher ay scapewithout amage:either enos Criterion s valid in which ase however kepticisms aban-doned or t s not, n which asesomething an be known, venthough t

14) ureliusugustinus,gainsthe cademics,ransi..J.O'MearaNew ork, 951),6-77[=Ancienthristian riters,2]; atinext:ontracadmicosI,5,1 CCSL9, 4.10-16].Seelso ontracadmicosII, ,18 nd hereseuhrer,DasKriteriumerWahrheitnAugustinsContracadmicos"',igiliaehristianae6 1992),57-275,sp. 58-262.15) nthe otion f hantasiaataleptikesee .H. andbach,hantasiaataleptikenProblemsin toicismed.Alexis.LongLondon,971),-21;orhemain oxographicalourcesf hatnotionDiogenesaertiusTheivesndOpinionsf minenthilosophersVII, 6 and 4),CiceroAcadmicaII,77-78),extusmpiricusAgainsthe rofessorsVII,247-252)seeAlexis.Long,nd avid . Sedley,he ellenistichilosophers,vols.Cambridge,987,ol.I,243-254section0)).16)or detailednalysisf hat ritiqueee uhrer,ugustinontracadmicoscit. .8above),144-158nd 03-307.


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may hare haracteristics ith he false.17ndwemight dd here he lassicalargument gainst kepticism,hat o position an be refuted ithout ssent othe truth. s a consequence, very rgument gainst he Stoic criterion s aself-refutingne.

The constructive art fAugustinecritique s for ur purposesmore nter-esting. n it, Augustines riticism f the skeptics ppears lready omewhatcomplicated,he keptic position eing, n fact, artially ccepted. hecru-cialpoint s of course o determine o what extent ugustine s ready ogoalongwith he rgument f the keptics nd at which ointhe s compelledoleave t behind. The answer o that question s symptomatic f Augustinephilosophicalosition verall. imply ut, t could be said that his positionexpresses fundamental istrust f the enses. n fact, n Contra cadmicosAugustineppears o be a skepticalhinker ith egardo the enses: hey an-not provide swith ertain nowledge.18herefore, heconstructive art fhiscritique f kepticism ust ntail he pening pof n epistemicpaceforcertain nowledge hich s not grounded n senseperception. ut where ansuchknowledge e obtained? ugustine istinguishes wo realms n whichcertain

nowledge,hich s to

say ruth,sobtainable. hefirst sthe

ubjec-tive, ntrospectiveomain i.e.,that ne ives, nd knowswith ertainty hathe lives;or that one perceivesomething with or without ertainty), ndknowswith ertainty hat ne s perceivingomething.19he other omain sthat f ogical nd mathematicalruths propositions f theform or notas well s arithmetical quations uch s 2 +3 =5' can mpossiblyefalse, aysAugustine.20

In summary, ugustine criticism f skepticismn Contra cadmicoseadsto a conception f truth s something hat cannot be known hrough he

senses, ut only hrough eason.21lthough rguing gainst heAcademics,Augustine oes not take n tel ueltheStoiccriterion f truth; ather, edis-places, o to speak, tsfield f application rom he ensible o the ntellectual

17)Augustine,ontracadmicos,II,9,21.18)he pistemologicalrogramcorporalibusd ncorporabas eitmotivfAugustine'shilo-sophicalritings.ee or xempleugustine,ontracadmicosII,1 26, swell sAugus-tine, e diversisuaestionibusxxxiii,.9 (Utrumorporeisensibusercipieritasossit,wherethe nswero hat uestions learlyegative.19)eeAugustine,ontracadmicos,II,9,19.20)eeAugustine,ontracadmicosII,1 , 4and II,13, 9.21)Here ne annot elp ut hink fAnselmfCanterburyhimselfcarefuleaderfAugustineand is efinitionf ruth s olamenteerceptibilissee nselmfCanterbury,everitate11).


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realm. hatmove snotwithout onsequence:or he wo ypes f ruth hichAugustine cknowledges,hepurely ubjective nd the ogical-mathematical,paya highpricefor heir ertainty. he former s essentially on-communi-cableand the atter s what wein modern erms ould callempty nd tauto-logical.22 etweendesperately rivate nd seemingly autological ruths,however, here ies an entire omainof human activity nd knowledge owhich, t wouldseem, ruthmust remain oreign: he domain of anguage.Spokenwords, hose ensibly-perceptiblentities, ppearhere o be excludedas potential ruth-bearers. his seems to be the neluctable onsequence fAugustine critique f skepticisms it unfolds n Contra cadmicosa pessi-mistic onclusion hich eaves hereader f that ext with he unsettling ues-tion fwhy ne should ontinue odiscuss, rite, ead r teach as Augustineobviously id.23 he confinement f certain nowledgeo ogical-mathemati-cal or ntrospectiveruths eadsto the question f the epistemic alueof in-guistic xpressions:an linguistic ignsbe the vehicle f true knowledge?Augustine theory f significationn De dialcticaffers oth an answer othat uestion nd an elegant olution othe problem.24

22)or he ake f larity, efall ack n thismodernerminologyhroughouthis tudy.Beyondhe erminologicalscpect,owever,he uestionrises hether athemacialruthssAugustinenderstandshemnContracadmicosorrespondowhat emeanodayhithhewordtautology'.e ee heustificationf his hoicen he act hathe ecognitionfmath-ematicalruthss ognizablenContracadmicossnot resentedy ugustines wayut fskepticism:lthought s kind f ruth hat an e ttained yhumanubjects,tdoes otincreaseheir nowledgejust stautologiesonot. therwise,twould emainnclearhyAugustinensistsn everalccasionsnContracadmicosthat e till id ot eachny ertainknowledgesee ontracadmicosI,23 nd 0aswell s II,5and 3).23) or he mportancef ommunicationnAugustinesonceptionf anguages omparedoAristotle's,ee rne osier-Catach,ristotlendAugustine.woModelsfOccidentaledi-evalemantics',nSignsnd ignificationed.H S.Gill,ndG.Manetti,vols.New ehli,1999-2000),ol.I,41-62,sp. 1-42.24)t s well-knownacthat ugustine'sositionn he uestionf he pistemicaluef in-guisticignshangedverime:nthe e magistrowrittenn389, .g.nX,34),hedeniesorexamplehe apacityfwordso eachs nythingnd ppearss skepticith especto an-guage.his ositionill enuancednDe doctrinahristianawrittenn 96),wherehe otionof inguisticign indsmoreositiveppreciationseeorxampleI,31, 8).n he e trinitatefinally,he heoryf he nnermental)ordverbumulliusinguae,e trinitateXV, 0, 9)showsfullyematerializedotionf he linguistic"ign 'linguistic'ere avingeaningnly

insofarswe cknowledgehat ugustine'sheoryf he nner ord as n arlyormfmentallanguage;n hisspect,ee laudeanaccio,e iscoursntrieur.ePlatonGuillaume'Ockham(Paris,999),08-19.Our ointn he resenttudy,owever,s odetermineow arf t llAugustine'sheoryf ignsnd ignificationnDe dialcticaffersn lternativeo he kepticalattitudeowardsensibly-transmittednowledgehiche doptsnContracadmicos.


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1.2. Linguisticignifications a WayOutDialecticholds predominant osition, orAugustine,mongst he anguage-related r trivial ciences.25t is not a descriptive, ut rather reflexive isci-plineof the highest rder; or n it, the nature nd value of reason ome tolight.Dialectic s indeed ssentiallyelated ospoken anguage, ut t s notprimarily phonetic cience: thatwhich ounds", aysAugustinen De dia-lctica5, "is not the concern f dialectics".26 owever,without hatwhichsounds,without he words, here ould be no dialectics, t least not n the

sense n which hat disciplinespresented yAugustinen his treatise f thesamename:the dialcticas the cientia ene isputando1nd there s no dis-pute withoutwords.Thusthat which ounds s an indispensable eansforevery ialecticalognition. herefore,he wonotions f ignumnd ignificatioplay central ole n Augustines reatise. hey re the twoelements, espec-tively material ehicle nd a relation, hich llow the transition rom hatwhich ounds, nd s not essential,o that which oesnot ound nd s essen-tial odialectics.

Let us beginwith ignificatioWhat evels nd entities re nvolved,ccord-

ingto Augustine,n the emantic nalysis f anguage?hefollowing amouspassage ives detailed nswer o that uestion:

Now hat hich hemind, ot he ars, erceivesromhewordndwhichsheld ithinthemindtselfs alleddicibile.hen words pokenot or ts wn ake ut or hesake f ignifyingomethinglse,t s alleddictio.he hingtself hichsneitherwordnor he onceptionf word n hemind, hetherrnot t has wordywhicht an esignified,s alledothingut res n he roperensef he ame. herefore,heseourare obekept istinct:he erbumthe icibilethe ictiond he es.2*

25)eeAureliusugustinus,eordineed.W.M. reenTurnhout,970),9-137=CCSL9];ibid.,I, 13, 8.26)Augustine,edialctica,[ed. inborg,8.18].27)eeAugustine,edialctica1,1.28)Augustine,edialctica,[transi.ackson,9-91];atinexted. inborg,8.5-90.9].ora detailedommentaryn he istinctionetweenerbum,icibile,ictiond es,eeHans uef,Augustinberemiotiknd prache.prachtheoretischenalysenuAugustinschrifiDe ialc-tica(Bern,981),2-115;ohn .Rist, ugustine.ncienthoughtaptizedCambridge,1994),3-40;tephan eier-Oeser,ie pur eseichens.asZeichenndeineunktionn er

PhilosophieesMittelaltersnd er rheneuzeitBerlin-Nework,997),-13; laus ahn-ert, ntmachtunger eichen?ugustinberpracheAmsterdam,999),-11 nd 5-45;h.Kirwan,ugustineshilosophyf anguage',he ambridgeompanionoAugustine,d.Nor-man retzmannnd leonoretumpCambridge,001), 86-204;.Manetti,e teorieelsegnoell'antichitlassicaMilano,987),26-229.


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The mind perceivesomethingn the material, pokenword verbum),s itsintelligibleontent. verbumoupledwith significateifferent romtself sthen alled dictio. hatwhich sperceivedn thedictio s the dicibilewhichis only ntellectually erceptible nd must be distinguished rom he extra-mental bject,namely heres Such ntellectual erception f an intelligiblecontent n or from material bjectsuchas a word s nothing ther hansignificano. henever omething hat ounds presents he mind with ome-thing o be cognized,hen hat ounding hing sat the ame ime signuma sign:

Asignssomethinghichs tselfensedndwhichndicateso themind omethingbeyondheigntself.29

Thespokenwordas sign s the objectof a twofold erception ith respec-tively ifferent ontents: n the one hand, the soundingword tself s theobjectof sense perception; n the other hand, the ntelligible ontent, rdicibiletransmitted y t is the objectof the ntellectual erception f themind, r animus

Just s theAugustinin iscussionf skepticismn Contra cadmicosres-ents a Stoic component namely, nsistence n the possibility f humanbeings iscoveringhe truth so too must Augustinin ialectics e consid-ered n the ight f ts toic ources.30hequestion fwhether he riad emai-

29)Augustine,edialctica,[transi.ackson,7]; atinexted. inborg,6.10].heconcep-tion f he erbums sign a viewhateemsery aturalodaywas ot standardositionin he hilosophyf ntiquity.nthe eripateticnd toic raditions,ignssemeia)re atherindices,ymptoms,r remises,nd fAugustinesnot he irsto peakfwordss ignsPlato,Aristotlend he toics eforeim id swell),he ordverbum),s signumatums pposedto ignumaturaleacquiresnAugustinenewlyefinedlacend alue:n he ne and,t sintegratednto generalheoryf igns hich ill efullyevelopednDedoctrinahristiana(II,1,1-3);n he ther and,he erbums inguisticignonserveshe pistemicalue f hetraditional,re-Augustinianonceptionf he ignindication,ymptom,remise).n thatquestion,eeMeier-Oeser,ieSpur es eichenscit. . 28above),-34nd he art f heIntroductionrittenyPeter chulthessnAureliusugustinus,e magistroDerLehrerintrod.,nnot.nd d.by hereseuhrerPaderborn,002),6-41. n the onceptionf in-guisticignseforeugustine,ee .Chiesa,miosis-signes-symboles:ntroductionux horiesu

signee latont AvistteBerne,991),swell sR.A.Markus,St.Augustinen igns',hronesis.1 1957),0-83,sp. 0-65,ndJ.Ppin,ugustint adialectiqueVillanova,976),esp. 7-86.30) esideshe tudiesfMeier-Oesercit. .28above),uefcit. .28above)nd chulthess(cit. .28above) entionedbove,eeB.Mates,toicogicBerkeley,953),1-26.


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noriyemainoumenonnd tynchanon31nwhich he econd erm s thefamouslektonstands nthebackgroundf he distinction adebyAugustine etweenverbumordictio, dicibilend res as been discussedt ength nAugustininstudies.32owever, hat eems o havegoneunnoticed n previous esearch,is the similarity etween he Augustinin efinition f sign and the Stoicnotion f presentationrphantasiaPHere s one of themaindoxographicalsources or hat notion:

31)extusmpiricus,gainsthe ogiciansI,1 .As he oncernedassageeveals,heektorthe icibilend heir edievalorrespondentsnuntiabilend ictumelongo hose indsfentitieshat ssumehe ole f pecific,on-material,emanticorrelatesf inguisticxpres-sions;n his oint,ee .Cesalli,eralismeropositionnel.mantiquet ntologieesroposi-tionshezeanuns cotGauthierurley,ichardrinkleyt eanWyclif(aris,007),4-36.32)eefor xampleeier-Oesercit. .28above,2 q.),who imself,ike uef cit. .28above,08 q.), oes ot een he toicektonhe quivalentf he icibilewhileolishcit.,n.13 bove,ol., 329 q.),Manetticit. .28above,27) ndJackson,he ranslatorfDedialcticaare onvincedf he

ontrary,ee .D.

Jackson,The

heoryf

ignsn

t.AugustinesDedoctrinahristiana'evuees tudesugustiniennes5 1969),-49, sp. 7sq.Themainargumentsgainstheffinityetweenektand icibiliare )that icibiliarementalntitieswhereasektare ot, incehe toicsonceivedf houghtsbeing aterial;)that ektarethat hichs ignified,hileccordingoAugustine,hat hichinguisticxpressionsignifyreresnd ot icibilia')that icibiliantailhe ossibilityf eingaid nd hus ust eprioroactualerbalxpressionshereasektare onsequencesf erbalxpressions.nthat oint,eeG.Nuchelmans,heoriesf he roposition.ncientndMedievalonceptsf he earerf ruthand alsityAmsterdam-London,973),16 q.Far rom antingo sserthedentityflektonnd icibilewewisho rgueor he laimhat he wo ntitiesaveemarkableharac-teristicsn ommon:)they oth epresenthat hichsneither inguisticign or thing;)they othre ssentiallyinked ith entalctivity:hemind erceiveshe icibileAugustine);themind raspsnd ontainsheektonStoics).sfor he rgumentsontradducedbove(a-c),he ollowingbservationsan emade: . The icibilesnot thoughtut atherhatwhich egrasphroughmentalct an ntelligibleontent hich,ust ike he ektonmustbe mmaterial..Thatektare ignifiedan eunderstoods he acthatheyre hemmedi-ate orrelatef poken ordsjust sdicibiliare), ut hat oes otmeanhat ur inguisticexpressionsonot ltimatelyignifyhingswhen e ayDion swalking,e efinitelyntendto ayomethingbout human eingnd ot bout lekton.3.The otionf ektonndeedentailsn ctual se f inguisticxpressions,ut, sMeier-Oeserimselfotescit. .28 bove,12, .58), he toic otionf nternalrmentalpeechffersn nswero hat bjection.33)Althoughhe ommentatorsfAugustine'sedialcticaJacksoncit. .32above),uef(cit. .28above),eier-Oesercit. .28above),chulthesscit. .31above),ahnertcit .30 bove),irwancit. . 0 bove),arkuscit. .31 bove),pincit. . 1 bove),istcit.n. 0 bove)nd olishcit. .13 bove)stresshe toic ackgroundfAugustinesemantics,none as ointedut hat ugustinesefinitionf ignnDedialcticahowstrikingimilarities


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Apresentations happeninghatccursn he syche,isplayingothtselfnd hat hichcausedt. or xample,hen y ision e ook ponomethinghite, hat as ccurredin he sychehroughhe ct f eeings n ffect;nd ecausef his ffect e an ayhattheres whitebjecthatt mpliesitalics ine].34

Thesimilarityppears venmore learlyfwecompare he bove-quoted as-sagefrom etius with heother,moredetailed ormulation f the definitionof ign hatAugustine ives n De doctrina hristian#.

For signs a thing hichf tself akes ome ther hingome omind, esidesheimpressionhattpresentso he enses.35

Do we have here a mere similarity etweendefinientesthe Augustinindefinition f ign ndthe toic definition f presentation, r re he efiniendathemselvesimilar?We wish o suggest hat here s more han terminologi-calresemblance,ut certainly othing ike an identity f objects.The Stoicphantasia s not the same sort of thing s the Augustininignum36 o thequestion asto be raised s to what ould havebeen hephilosophical otiva-

tion forAugustine ointegrate nto his definition f sign n element f the

with he toic otionf hantasiaAs consequence,he uestionstowhat his ouldmeanfor ugustinephilosophicalonceptionf ruth as ot een ddressedn he iterature.chul-thessor xamplecit. .28above,2-38)tresseshe ifferenceetweenhe toic nferentialnotionf ignasemeions he ntecedentf n nference)nd he ugustininotionf ignas relationetweeninguisticxpressionnd ts ignificate.enotesoweverp. 8), hathe"epistemic-logicalotionf he nferentialign"spresentnAugustine'sefinitionsivennDedialcticand e doctrinahristiana.uefcit. .28above,08)mentionstype f hantasia(namelyhe hantasiaogikewhichs n xpressiblempression)hileommentingn hapterofDedialcticabut edoeso n rdero uggestStoicorrespondento he icibilend otin onnectionith ugustine'sefinitionf ign.34)Aetius,iatita,V, 2 transi.andbach,hantasiaatalptikcit. .17 bove),0]; reektextStoicorumeterumragmentaed. . vonArmin,vols.Teubner,903-1924),ol. ,21(n.54)].35) ureliusugustinus,e doctrinahristianaed. nd ransi, yR.P.H. reenOxford,995),57.Latinext:d.J.MartinTurnhout,962),-167=CCSL32];bid.I, 1, 1[CCSL2,32.5-7].36) s matterf act,signums corporealhinghatan epresentedo he ensesia spe-

cies, hilephantasiaspreciselyhat hroughhichcorporealhingsrepresentedthe or-respondinglemento he ignumouldethe hantastonthat sthe orporealhing hichcauseshe hantasia. Furthermore,herere ausal elationsetweenphantasiand hat fwhichphantasiasaphantasiawhileherere o uch elationsetweensignumnd hatwhichsignumignifies:anguages onventionalnd epresentationsnatural.


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Stoicdefinition fphantasia this lement eing he ombination f the womoments f reflexivitysf-ostentatio)nd transitivityostentadofsomethingelse). n short,webelieve hatAugustines eason or his ntegration astoensure he epistemic alue of words that s of inguistic, ensible igns inorder o temper herather keptical utcome f the Contra cadmicos?1utwhy nd how can thenotion fphantasia elp to achieve his oal?

As to the first uestion, he central oleplayedby thephantasia n Stoicepistemologyffers plausiblenswer. t s the pivotal otion n the xplana-tion of knowledgend its foundation n senseperception.38bove ll, as wehave een p. 5sq.),the toic riterion f ruth snothing ther han peculiarkind of presentation, he so calledcomprehensiveresentation r phantasiakataleptikeIn linking isconception f the ign othe toic notion fpresen-tation, ugustine isplays is ntention oprovideinguisticigns they re tstake n theDedialctica with n essentialpistemic alue.

As to the econd uestion how s this oalto beachieved? a brief om-parison srequired etween heroleplayedbythe peciesf a sign nAugus-tine analysis f significationnd the roleplayedbythe hantasia f a thing

in the Stoicsanalysis f enseperception.When see tree, or xample,mymind s affected y presentationorphantasia) uchthat know hat hereis, in the external orld, material bjectwhichhas causedmy presenta-tion, namely hetree am now seeing:perception s a sense-basedausalinference hat nformsme about the actualpresence f an object in theexternal orld.When understand hespokenword arbor that s,whenthisword uccessfullyunctions s a signfor me mymind s affected yaspeciesf theword4arbor such that know hat hiswordrefers o a kindofnatural thing, namely plant composedof a trunk, ranches nd leaves:

significations a sense-basedpistemic nference hatdoesnot inform meabout the presence f anything n the externalworld beyondthe sound"arbor" tself,39 ut rather ivesme accessto a kind of mental contentthroughwhich know to what kind of things heword

arbor refers. nAugustinin erminology:rees n the externalworldare the reswe speak

37)ee bove,.7sq.38)ee or xampleiogenesaertius,heifesndOpinionsf minenthilosophersVII, 9.39) heresof oursehe ase f materialuppositionmentions.use),wherehe oundingwords t he ame imeignifiernd ignificatesee he ifferencefverbumnd ictionDedialecticay),but his s ratherarticularase.he rucialoints hatne an seuccessfullythe ignarbor ithouthereeingny reeround, hilet s mpossibleunderormalondi-tions)o ee tree, henheresno reeround.n hort,ignifyingsnot epresenting.


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aboutwhenwecorrectly se the ignumarbor and they re also the thingswesee,whenwe see trees.Whereas hatwhich he ignumarbor shows omy mind beyond tself s not a tree n the external orld, ut the dicibilecan graspfrom he word

4arbor "Now that whichthe mind, not the ears,perceivesn the word and which s held within he mind tself s called adicibile saysAugustinen De dialectical

To sumup:Augustine eacheshegoalof ensuring heepistemic alueoflinguistic igns ytaking hebasicStoicexplanation-patternf sensepercep-tion self ostentatioostentatiof something lse)and making t work n twoontologicallyifferentevels.Whatwegain hrough ignifications not nfor-mation bout he xistence f he material auseof presentation ehave, utrather nowledgef some bstract r formal riteria ywhich o identify hethingswe are speaking bout: significations the wayto obtain ntelligibleknowledge rom sensible bject.Thisdiffers ery ignificantlyrom ugus-tines ontinually eaffirmedessimismegardinghevalue f ense erceptionfor ognition f truth: f truth s to be knowable, hen he content f thatknowledgemust ranscend he evel f ense erception. his sprecisely hat

the ignums defined n De dialcticand De doctrina hristiana sdesigned odo. In terms f the xample iven bove seeing tree using uccessfullyheword arbor) the onclusion there ssomethingn the xternal orld ausingthe mpression presently ave" s mere nformation, hile he ontent thatwhich s causingmy actual mpressions a plant composed ut of a trunk,branches nd eaves" s genuine nowledgeseep. 3 sq.above).

That s why here lso can be linguistic ruth-bearers,amely, ropositions,why rgumentations possible, nd whydialectics, hedisciplina isciplina-rum, smeaningful.f all of the bove s true, henAugustine definition f

sign s well s his conception f significationan be seen asa positive onse-quenceofhis criticism f skepticismn Contra cadmicosAt the nd of thisCicero-inspiredialogue, he ognition f truth s confined o the wo terilerealms f subjectiventrospection nd tautology, everthelesshe twofold

40)Augustin,e dialctica5 [transi.ackson,9-91];atin exted. inborg,8.5-90.9].nthat ense,he icibilean e een s n arlyormf he erbumulliusinguaef erbumordisof he ater e tr nitat,XV nd resentslso omeimilaritiesith regesinn escribeds"eine rt es Gegebenseinses ezeichneten"awayf being-givenness"f he ignificate),eeG.Frege,ber inn nd edeutung',eitschriftr hilosophiend hilosophischeritik 00(1892),5-50,sp. 6.


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nature f the inguistic ign whichon the one hand is perceptible y thesenses nd on the other resents hemindwith n intelligibleontent nowopensup the possibilityf delineating third, ntermediate omain nwhichtruth an be cognized, amely, hedomain f inguistic xpressions.

1.3. Interim esults

(1)Aphilosophicalead-endDespiteAugustine rejection f thegeneral kep-ticalclaimthat nothing an be knownwith certainty, he discussion f the

Academics' octrine n Contra cadmicoseads to a conclusion hat s itselfpartially keptical:f truth an be known, hennot through he senses.The'dead-end' haracter f this philosophicalonclusion ecomes pparent fweobserve he examples rovided f the sort of truths hich re knowableintrospective, rivate ruths n the one hand, and analytical r tautologicaltruths n the other provided ne snot content o reduce hilosophyitherto solipsismr mere ormalism.

(2) Thesignificationf linguistic xpressionss a way out of skepticism.Signification, hat linguistic igndoes when t correctly unctionss a sign,as defined yAugustinen De dialcticamakespossible semantic oncep-tion of truth or inguistic xpressions. ccording oAugustine, sign s athing hat an be perceived ythe enses se psum ensui stendit and thatneverthelessransmits n intellectual nowledge aliquidanimoostenditInotherwords, he ignificatioridges hegapbetweenwhat s perceived ythesenses nd what s perceived y themind, .e., the ntelligible.his s achievedbythe ntegration f elements rom he Stoicdefinition fphantasia nto hedefinition f ign, hus rovidinginguistic ignswith pistemic alue n spiteof heirmaterial, ensible ide: he

ignificatioakes

signumut of verbum

Contemporary omputer cientists ould say: significatio akesgenuineknowledgeut of mere nformation.

(3)The eed or ntologicaloundation.heway ut of kepticismffered ythe ignificationf inguistic xpressionss not sufficient, owever,o set theAugustininemantic onception f truth ponanentirely table oundation.For, n order o be legitimatelyescribed s knowledgef truth, hefact hatsigns s sensible bjects rovide s with ntelligible nowledgef the hings owhich hey onventionally efer, till equireshefulfillment f a further on-

dition.That s, the res ignified y the signamust hemselves articipatentruth. nlywith n examination f theontologicalruth f ignifiablebjectsand their perceivability ill the linguistic-semanticspectof the relationbetween ignificationnd truth eceive n entirely table oundation.


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2. Why Things re Semantically rueIn his SoliloquiesAugustinedvanceshe pinion hatwhat xists, s true: forthat eems ometo betruewhich s".41 is reason inds othing bjectionablein this iew, nd thus scribes o reality, hat s,to res, verall, ntic ruth. t sprecisely his ruth f reality hatfounds hetruth f inguistic xpressions,since inguistic xpressionsefer o things res).42urthermore, s discussedabove, inguistic xpressionsresigns signa) nd as such re part f a triadicrelation etween hemselves,heir nterpreter nd the thing ignified. rom

this t follows hatone must distinguish harply etween igns n the onehand and things n the other.43 owever, ccording oAugustine, here realsothings hich re t the ame ime igns.44ut f his s the ase, ne mustconcludethat they havesignificationnd thus possessbeyond heir nticdimension further, amely semantic ne. So there s the general uestionof the relation n which hings tand otruth, nd the moreparticular ues-tionofwhat hings hat re t the ame time igns ignify, s well s how, ndwith what truth-value. n short, hen, t is this onnection etween hings,significationnd truth hatwillbepursued n this art f the tudy.

In occupying neselfwith Augustines eflectionsn reality, ne quicklyencounters notable haracteristic,amely he entral ole ttributed o num-ber. n the first lacearehis well-known eneral emarks n the meaning fnumber or he existence f the sensibleworld, s for xample n De liberoarbitrio I, 16, 42: "They sc. the sky nd the earth tc., NG] haveforms

41)Aureliusugustinus,oliloquiorumibri uo ed.W.HrmannWien,986),-98=CSEL89];bid.,I,5,8[myranslation];atinextCSEL9, 6.14q.].42) f.Dedialctica5 [ed. inborg,6.7]:Verbumst niuscuiusqueei ignum";or he(objective)oundationf he ruth f propositionn he ruth f eality,f. n dditionugus-tine, oliloquiaII,5,8 [CSEL9,55.18]:Verumst uodta e habet t ognitoriidetur(...)"43) f.Dedialctica5 [ed. inborg,6.8]:Signumst uod...) praeterealiquidnimoos endit",hilehe ess hat hichsentiturelntelligiturel atet"ibid.6.7q.].44) f.Augustine,edoctrinahristiana,2,2[CCSL2, .1-14]:Omnisoctrinael erumest el ignorm,ed es er igna iscuntur.roprieutem unc es ppelaui,uaenon d

significandumliquiddhibentur,icutist ignumapis ecustque uiusmodietera...).(...)non utem mnisesdamignumst";bid.,I,1,1[ibid.,2.1-3]:Quoniamerebuscumcriberem,raemisiommonense uisn is dtenderet,isiuodunt, on tiami uidaliud raeteresignificant...)".Cf.Meier-Oeser,ieSpur es ichenscit. . 28above),23-26nd 9.


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because hey avenumbers. akethese way, nd nothing illbeleft",45r nDe musicaW17,57:"But fyoutake hese sc.thenumbers, G] away romthe earth, t will be nothing".46specially n the latter writing, owever,Augustine oes clearly eyond hese eneral nd also traditional xpressions.Therehe develops,with respect o things, complex heory f signs ndknowledge, hich onsists f two complementary arts: n the part of theknowing ubject model f perception nd knowledge,nd on the part f theobject fknowledgen ontologicals well s semantic rounding f the truc-ture f reality.47he basis s n both ases he ameprinciple: umber.

In view of both of these haracteristics nd the above-mentionedentralquestion f this art f the tudy, ur procedure illbe as follows. he nves-tigation illbeginwith n examination fAugustine conception f numberand music n the basisofDe ordinend De musicaFollowinghis, hefocuswill urn, irst o his numerological odelofperception nd knowledge,ndsecond o his ontologicals wellas semantic ounding f reality n the basisofnumber. astly, omemain haracteristicsf he onnection etween hings,significationnd truth illbe set out.

2.1. Augustine'sonceptionfNumber nd Music

In the second book of De ordine Augustine iscussesn detail he meaningand role f number n the realm f the cientific isciplines.here e outlinesin an idealwaythe developmentf the even iberal rts, nd describes heir

45) ureliusugustinus,he roblemf ree hoicetransi,nd d. M. PontifexNew ork,1955),23.Latin ext: ureliusugustinus,e liberorbitrioed.W.M.GreenTurnhout,1970),1 -321=CCSL9];bid.,I, 16, 2 CCSL9, 65.25q.].46) ureliusugustinus,emusicaiber 7,d. nd ransi. artinacobssonStockholm,002);ibid., I, 17, 7, ibid.,13]. atinext: ureliusugustinus,e musica.cherund i.Vomsthetischenrteilurmetaphysischenrkenntnis,d. rank entschelHamburg,002),72.52.For urtherxamplesswell s iteraturef. . Horn, ugustinshilosophieer ahlen, evuedes tudesugustiniennes0 1994),89-415,sp. 89.47) or e musicaf. .Keller,ureliusugustinusnd ieMusik.ntersuchungenu "Demusica"imKontexteineschrifitumsWrzburg,993);.Hentschel,Einleitung',nAugustinus,emusica.cherund i. cit. .46above),.vii-xxviii.houghhe hilosophicalelevancefthis ext as ong eenecognizednd houghthas ormedhe bjectf everaltudiesmainlyfromn estheticerspectiveits mplicationsith espectoAugustinesheoryf ignsndsignificationre enerallyeglected,f., orxample,entschel"Einleitung"heree mpha-sizes he pistemologicals well s theologicalmplicationsf ur ext, ut oes ot rawconnectionoAugustineconceptf ignification.vennKellerthoroughtudyhisspectsabsent.


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respective unctions.While he identifies he task of the Trivium s"rectedocere'he identifies hatof the Quadrivium48s "beate ontemplar".49 he

subject f the atter sthings res), nd ts goalconsistsn eading nefrom hebeauty f sensible hings, hrough heir orm nd measure, o the underlyingnumber:

Thencehe sc. eason,G] dvancednto he ealmf he isiblend, urveyingeavenand arth,ensedhat othingther han eauty as leasingoher, ndwithinhatbeauty,orms,ndwithinhoseorms, easures,ndwithinhosemeasures,umbers

[..J.50

Just s logicrepresents hecoreof the trivial rts, mathematicsnumber), sthat f thequadrivial.51hat this onceptionmplies or he role f number,is that t s to be grasped s the meansfor aying are hefixed nd universalstructure f the universe, eyond hecharacteristicsr conventions f theworld f appearance. f significanceor he topicof this tudy s the actualobjectregarded mathematically"n the Quadrivium, amely, eauty. his anoteworthy etail nsofar sAugustine concept f beauty mplies n agree-mentwithmathematicalaws.52 hischaracteristiceverthelessroves o be a

48)Augustineoes ot se hiserm, hich as roughtpfor he irst imenBoethius,earithmetic> , 1, 4-130CCSL4A, 1-14;he ermtselfnp.1 .64].49)Augustineevelopsthreefoldunctionalivisionf hoseieldsinwhichhe ationabileappears"nparagraph5. hefirst,haracterizeds "acts elatingo ome oal", ay ebestdescribedsethics,ot elongingo he ciencesnwhich ugustinentendsofocusn hefollowing,hereashe ther wo re he theoretical"ciences,f. ugustine,eordine,I,12,35 CCSL9,127.1-6].hedentificationf recteocere"ith he riviumnd beateontem-plarwith he uadriviumssuggestedere ecomesleargainsthe ackgroundfpara-graphs5-42. heTriviums introduceds a field ealing ith he mpositionfverbalexpressionnd he ranslationf ignifications,f. bid.ibid.,27.12-15].he ransitiono hequadrivialrts, owever,spresentedsthe esire f atio o ontemplatehe ivineeatitudes,cf. bid.,I, 14, 9 ibid.,29.1q.].50)Augustine,e ordineI, 15, 2 myranslation];atin extCCSL9,130.1-4].51)Noone soAugustineharpensis onvictiono point shouldtriveor he nowledgecontainedn heserts, .e. he elf-knowledgef he oul n he riviumnd he nowledgefGod s he riginf ll hingsn he uadrivium,ithouthis oubleciencef ialecticsndmathematics,f. ugustine,eordine,I, 18, 7 CCSL9, 32.2-133.6].otably,his istinc-

tion oncerninghe wopproachesoknowledgeorrespondso he wofoldaskf hilosophy,cf. bid.ibid.,33.12-14]:Cuiussc. hilosophiaeisciplinae,G]duplexuaestiost, nade nima,lteraedeo. rimafficit,tnosmetpsosouerimus,ltera,t riginemostram".52)Cf., or his, eller,ureliusugustinusnd ieMusikcit. .47above),75 q.,who lsostresseshe onnectionetweeneautyndnumber;or ugustine'sotionfbeauty,f.


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L.Cesalliy. GermannVivarium6 2008) 23-154 141

necessary ondition orhis conception f the relationship etween hings,significationnd truth, s willnow be demonstrated hrough heexample fDe musica

Music,as one of the quadrivial rts, oncerns ll acousticphenomena.Augustine ermits o doubt to arise regarding hestatus f this bject: t isnot ubject o the imitationsnd particularitiesf rbitrary ppearancess is,for nstance, anguage, ut follows niversally-validaws.With respect o theuniversalityf theobject f his nvestigation, ugustine, t the nd of thefirstbook, emphasizeshat the regularitiesnd laws of musicapplyto motion(motus in general.53n this way,he gives ne to understand hat he rulesuncoveredn music pply oeverythingubject ogenerationnd corruption,thus o reality n general.54 ith regard o the notion f res this oncept asfar-reachingonsequences.Res', ccording othis, means verything ppro-priate sobject f the Quadrivium, hat s,all natural' ntities reated ytheOne,or God.55 nd, f his nterpretationscorrect, emayfurther oncludethat ll natural' hings, ethey iscrete r continuous, patially r temporallymoved, re driven y the mathematicaltructure f motion.56 ith respect

A.Schmitt,Zahl nd chnheitnAugustinse musicavi',Wrzburgerahrbcheriir ieAltertumswissenschaft.eue olge6 1990),21-237,erenparticular24-237; .Beier-waltes,equalitasumerosa.uAugustinsegriffes chnenWissenschaftndWeisheit8(1975),40-157.53)Cf., orxample,ugustine,emusica, 13, 8 ed.Hentschel,4.27-31]:Cumgiturdipsamationemisciplinaeuius,iquidemcientiastbenemodulandi,on ossit egariomnesertinereotus...)".54) hisnterpretations furtherorroboratedyAugustinesemarksnDeordine here isconceptppearsven arther-reachinghan he nedevelopedere. y mphasizinghat hedetectedegularitiesre alid ot nly or rithmetic,eometry,ndmusic,ut stronomyswellthe ourthf he uadrivialrts), e lsoncludesheupra-lunarotionsf he eavenlybodies.eyondll he ther otions,hosef he lanetsre he mostonstant",fixed",nd"ultimate".onethelessheyre ontrolledy xactlyhe ame orce,amelyimensiondnumeruscf. e ordineI, 15, 2 CCSL9,130.9-14].55)Cf.,n hisonnection,ugustinesefinitionf esnDedialctica5[ed. inborg,6.7q.],referredo bove,.16, . 3; he elevantassage:Res st uidquidelentitur,elntelligitur,vel atet".f he nterpretationresentederescorrect,he latent"hingsannoteGod,ssuggestedn medievallossuotedy inborgnhis otes,.125Chapter,n.2): Sciuntur

[sic, G;onemightxpectentiunturnstead]nim orporalia,ntelligunturpiritalia,atetveropse eust nformisateria".56)With hisharacterization,e efero he amousefinitionf he uadrivialrts, stablish-ingmultitudo,agnitudoocalmovementnd ocal ests the espectiveubject-matters,ee,for his, oethius,earithmetica,, 1, [CCSL4A, 0.39-1.43].


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to the underlying athematicalaws,moreover, e already ave seen thatAugustinesconvinced f their ationalitynd reliability:

But hat ne nd wohouldot e hree,nd hat wo houldot e wicesmuchsone,none f he ead wasble, onef heivings ble, ofuture an ill e ble obringabout.57

These awsofmathematics, ccording oAugustine,re ubject o no change,but remain ver table nd are intelligible.58ith these haracteristics,.e.

stability nd rationality, owever,hey artake f a feature rerequisiteotheacquisition f knowledgend certainty. ith respect o the question ursuedhere, t s crucial o notice hat, ccording oour author, hesemathematicallaws nhere o natural' hings. or this meansthat here s in the sensible,extra-mental orld n intelligible tructure hich whenperceptible canprovide ne with certain nowledge.Hence, the questions rise, first, fwhether ugustine concept f perception nd knowledgeontains n expla-nation for how man can extract hese aws from ense-data, nd, second,whether hisknowledgeonsists f more han tautological,mpty ruth.

2.2. Augustines odelofPerceptionnd KnowledgeIn order owto shift o Augustine modelofperception nd knowledge, emust first ecall his conception f those kindsof objectswhich re able totransmit nowledge. sdemonstratedn thefirst art f this tudy, ugustineisconvinced hat t s possible ormanto attain nowledge. ccording ohim,

57)Augustine,emusicaVI,12, 5 transi.acobsson,7];Latinexted.Hentschel,38.58-62].Cf., n this onnection,chmitt,Zahlund chnheit'cit.n. 52above),24sq.,who iscussesugustine'sotionfnumbernd mphasizests oth ational nd ynamiccharacter.58)or hemathematicalawsnd roportions,f. ugustine,emusica1,11,19ed. entschel,48.34q.]:( )numros,t uas obisegesertasixasqueonstraverint. )"; bid.,, 12,23 ibid.,6.123-126]:Rectegiturstosresuaternariusumerusequitur,iquipperibui-tur sta roportioneollatio.uae uantumaleat,o am ssuesceognoscere,uodlia nitas(...) inrebusrdinatisacuna ffici otest...)";for imilar otions,uch s the is f henumbersnd he ex r us equalitatis,f. ugustine,emusica,, , 18 ibid.,6.8]:Namqueista is umeronest...)";ibid., I, 10, 7[ibid.,24.49-54]:Unde...), nisi equalitatisiure ominanti )";bid.ibid.,26.61-64]:Cur...),nisi...)aequalitatisege )".Withrespecto he tablend elf-identicalharacterfnumber,f. orn, ugustinshilosophieerZahlencit. . 6 bove),89, 96 q. referring,ere,oDe iberorbitrio,I,7,15 II,8, 0).Regardinghisspect,f. lso e ordine,I, 19, 0[CCSL9,134.24-27],swell s ContraacadmicosII,1 , 4, nd II,13, 9 seebove,.7with . 20).


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both he objects f knowledgend the ignificataf inguistic xpressionsreres.59his means hat motion s generallyuited o function s an objectofknowledge, ince t is a thing. n order o explainhow men can cognizemotion, nd ultimately umber s the mathematical tructure f motion,Augustine ifferentiatesn De musica etween ifferent ypes f numbers,beginning ith numeri orporalest the evel of the physical orld, nd pro-ceeding o numeri udicialest the evel f thehuman ntellect. hose kinds fnumbers hich, ext o the numeri orporalesareof mportancen theprocessof perception, ugustine alls numeri ccursores umeri ecordabilesndnumeri ensualesall of which elong o the human oul.60

Of essential ignificancen this onnection renumeri ccursoressince heystand t the nterface f sensible henomena n the part f the extra-mentalworld ndsensory erception n the part f theperceivingubject. ugustinedevotes great eal of space n De musica oexplaining ow thesenumbersfunction. s analysis f the passage n question hows, hepurpose f hisextensivexplications to point ut the fact hat ense erceptions an active,mental rocess,nd that his mental ct necessarilyontains "quasi-rational"

component.61hisreveals, owever, hatAugustine onceives f both reality

59)vennDemagistrowhereugustineaintainsismost essimisticositionegardinghesignificancef inguisticxpressionsorransmittingnowledge,e oes ot enyhe ossibilityof ognitions uch,f., orxample,emagistroed.K.-D.DaurTurnhout,970),57-203[=CCSL9];bid., , 4 q. CCSL9, 93.153-194.171]:Et dmaximeibi itor ersuadere(...),per a igna,...),nos ihil iscere...).Non nim,um empsamidici,erbislieniscredidi,ed culis eis. )";cf., n hisonnection,eier-Oeser,ieSpurieseichenscit.n.28 bove),3-20, ith egardo he uotationn uestion,bid., 7-19.60) heresyet ne ast peciesfnumbers,umerirogressons,allingn he ierarchyetweennumeriecordabilesndnumeriensuales.ccordingoAugustine,heyormhe asis or heproductionf onusormotus).n numerirogressonsnd heir unction,f.Augustine,emusicaVI, ,4[ed.Hentschel,4.2-76.25].or urtheriscussionnd iteratureith egardothe ix ifferentpeciesfnumbers,f.Keller,ureliusugustinusnd ieMusikcit. .47above),57-262; entschel,Einleitung'cit. .47above),.xix-xxvi.61)Perception,ccordingoAugustine'sxplanation,eanshe ehaviourf he oul owardsreceivedtimuli.f hesetimuliremathematicallyroportionate,heyorrespondarmoni-callyo ts wnmathematicallyuledumbers,he umericcursores.nthis ase,he oul er-ceives ith leasure,therwiseith ain. he atio nderlyinghe oul'sreaction"re n bothcases he ationalaws fmathematics,hichswhyts ctivitys haracterizeds quasi-ratio-nal" n he boventerpretation.or ugustine'sxplanation,f. speciallye musicaVI,5,9[ed.Hentschel,8.31-90.77];f. bid., I, 5, 10, ibid.,0.58-62]:(...)has ctiones,ivefacilesropteronvenientiam,ive ifficilesropternconvenientiam,on arn atere,thoctotumst, uod entireicitur".f., nthis onnection,chmitt,Zahl nd chnheit'cit.n.52 bove),25 q.,who lso mphasizeshectiveole f he oul n his art f he ercep-tion-process.


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144 L.Cesalli, GermannVivarium6 2008) 23-154

and human perceptionandfinally: nowledge)s isomorphicallytructured:by the very awsof mathematicsnumerus). ence,already t this pointwecan assume hat his somorphism rovides hemeansby whichAugustinewill xplain he ognizabilityf extra-mentalhings.

This nterpretation inds dditional onfirmationn a further haracteristic,arising n connection o the numeri ensualesThe roleof this ype f numberis, according oAugustine, o judgewhether r not a perceivedmotion sproportionate,.e.structured ccording othemathematicalawsdescribednthe first ook of De musica

... a fifth indsc. fnumbers,G] ,a kind hich xistsn he aturaludgementfperception,hen e re elightedy he qualityf hythmsr ffendedhenmistakeismaden hem.or donot espiseourpinionhatur ense ould ot ave eenbletoperformhis ithout avingomehythmsiddenn t.62

According othispassage, he numeri ensualesre a measurewhich he oulpossesses y nature. enseperception, onsequently, eansto compare hemotion f an extra-mental hingwith his measure.Whereas leasures theeffect f an accord erceived ythe oul between henumerologicaltructureof an extra-mental hing nd its nborn measure, ejection esults rom is-agreement. henatural udgement, orrespondingly,onsists reciselyn thisact of uncovering he relationship etween he "external" nd respective

62) e musicaVI,4,5[transi.acobsson,7]; atin exted.Hentschel,6.3-8];ee lso bid.[ibid.,8.14q.]:(. )vel nnuendoel bhorrendouasi uodamaturaliure erreenten-tiam";bid., I, , 18 ibid.,04.32]:(. )nec arnenaturalellududicium. )".Augustinealludeso his ind f ormulationand,onsequently,oncept)lreadynbook,cf., orxam-ple,,5,10 ibid.,8.18q.]:Naturadfieri uto, uae mnibuseditensumudiendi,uoista udicantur".gainsthis ackground,ugustine'seasonornitiallyeferringo thesenumeriensualessnumeriudicialesaterm hich eatereservedtrictlyorntellectualudge-ment,nthe ealm f ationalnowledge)ecomeslear.Horn, ugustinshilosophieerZahlencit. .46above),01, inkshe umeriensualesith he ensusnteriorconceptowhich ugustineften efersnhis hilosophicalritings,articularlyn onnectionith he"innate"apacityf nimalsoproduceeautifully-orderedhings,.g., idsbirds)rhoney-combsbees),f. e ordine I, 19, 9 CCSL9,134.6-9];f. lsoAugustinesmphasizehatthe udiciumaturales non ationeed atura"Demusica,2,3;ed.Hentschel,2.37).hushe learlyonnectsheseinnate"umbersith he ationeseminalesf e diversisuaestionibusIxxxiiiq.46 Dedeis, and onsequentlyith he ational,ivinerder f he niverse.Anidentificationf he umeriensualesith he ensusnteriorsmoreoveruggestedy chmitt,'Zahl nd chnheit'cit. .52 bove),31,whoimilarlynderlineshequasiationalekteder eele"n he rocessf erception,bid.,27-230,nd 33.Cf. lso e iberorbitrioI,3,8,25-11,, 13, 1 CCSL9, 40.38-246.10].


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numeriudicialesrove n the evel f ntellectualnowledgeo be functions fthepreceding aturaludgements. hey re udgementsbout udgements:

But formy art elievehat henhis erse, hich eput orth,s ung, eus reatoromniumwe ]enjoytwithheseudicialhythmsnd valuatetwithomethers,ndthat e assnother, oreertain,entenceith hose oreiddenhythmsn his lea-sure, hichs, oto peak,heentencef hoseudicialhythms.67

Accordingothis, he ask f the numeriudicialess to decidewhether r not

the natural udgement assedon a thing s adequateor not, which s to saywhether he observed roportionednesss ^//-proportioned.68 lthough tthis oint t still emains nclearwhat xactly ugustine as n mind,we canestablish hat he inks heperception f things nd natural udgement egard-ing their mathematicaltructure ith yet further easure, ne which atleastmetaphysically)recedes aturaludgement.

With respect o the ubject f knowledge, amely hehuman oul,Augus-tine s now able to explain heprocess f knowledge from he ensory er-ceptionof reality, hrough he "quasi-rational"greement r disagreementwith he perceivedtructures nherent oreality, p to a rational judgementregarding his tructure nd the natural udgement. owever o what xtentthe bject fknowledgetself and thus ealitynd ts llegedly athematicalstructure is ontologicallyecured, emains o be seen;as does the ocus ofthat measure ccording o which his tructure s judgedto be well-propor-tioned. n this onnection, hequestionmust lso be dealt with f whetherthis tructure ossesses nyfurther ignification.

2.3. TheOntological

oundationfReality

nd theignificationf

tsStructure

The clearest eference o that measure hich underliesudgements f the ec-ond order the numeri udiciales occurs n De musicaVI, 11 29, where

67)Augustine,e musicaVI, ,23 transi.acobsson,7]; atinexted. entschel,16.15-21];seelsobid., I, , 24 ibid., 8.48 120.54]:... et liud st estimare,trumecten ecusista electent,uod it atiocinando".68)Obviously,hisecondrderudgementeflectshe efinitionfmusicresentedyAugus-tinenbook("Musicast cientiaene odulandi",e musica,2,2;ed.Hentschel,.10;myemphasis),amelyts haracterizations"bene";or n nterpretationf hemeaningf his"well-proportionedness",f. he ollowingection.egardinghe pitet ene,f. lsoKeller,Aureliusugustinusnd ieMusikcit. . 7 bove),53; f.,n ontrast,entschel,Einleitung(cit. .47above),.xiii q.Our nterpretation,hich ill epresentedhortly,ends oretowardsellerview.


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L.Cesalli,.GermannVivarium6 2008) 23-154 147

Augustine haracterizeshe divine rder s the ast nstance n reference owhich he dequacy f proportions aybe determined:

Butwhats uperiorxcepthatnwhichhe ighest,nshakeable,nchangeable,ternalequalityxists, hereheresnotime, ecauseheres nochange,nd rom hich hetimesre reatednd et n rderndmodifiedn mitationf ternity,hilehe elestialrotationeturnsothe ame lacend ecallshe elestialodiesothe ame lacendthroughhe aysndmonthsndyearsnd ustra nd he ther rbitsf he tars beysthe awsf qualitynd nitynd rder?69

Theprinciple f ll things nd their tructures onsequentlyorms he ummaaequalitaswhich s identifiable ith God.70 This has far-reaching onse-quences or ur topic.First, t maybeconcluded rom his hat he xistenceof things nd their tructures sontologicallyoundedn the ummaaequali-tas l Beyond his t becomes vident hat he omposition f these tructuresisactually mathematicalne:everythinghat xists ollows he egesequalitatis t uni at s.Hence t can, nprinciple, erecognizedy he ikewisemath-ematically-structured uman ratio in its proportionality.72 hile the

69)Augustine,e musicaVI,1 , 9 transi.acobsson,7]; atinexted.Hentschel,28.8-15].For detailednalysisf he ole f rdo nDe musicaf.Keller,ureliusugustinusnd ieMusikcit. .47above),27-235nd 41-246.70)n dditiono he uotationn heext,f., orxample,emusicaVI, , 0 ed.Hentschel,108.15q.]: ()deum,uemerte ecetredereuctoremmnisonvenientiaetqueon-cordiae",nd bid., I, 12, 36[ibid., 40.82-88]:D. Nihilmihi mninost e storumaequalitateecurius..Undergo redendumst nimaeribui,uod eternumst t ncom-mutabile,isi buno eternot ncommutabilieo?...) Illud...) manifestumst um ...)sesentusddeummovet,tverumncommutabilentelligat. )".Cf. lso e genesiontraManichaeoSyd.J.-P. igneParis,841),ol.173-220=PL34]; bid.,, 16, 6[PL34,186.1-3]:()Nec liumnvenies,isi bi umma ensura,t ummusumerus,t um-mus rdo st, d st eum ...)".71) hat he ex equalitatisormshe rincipleccordingowhichverythingas reatedyGod,sconfirmedyDe musicaVI,17, 6[ed.Hentschel,68.11-170.19]:Quamobremquisqus...)debetateribuno rincipioer equalemlli c imilempeciemivitiisonitatiseius...)omniaactassetqueonditauaecumqueunt,n uantumcumqueunt".72)or n xplicitoundationf he umbersith hich he oulmeasuresll ts ther umeriandmotions,amelyhenumeripiritualescf.Augustine,e musicaVI, 12,34-36ed.Hentschel,34.1-140.90]:Excipitutem emoriaonolumarnalesotusnimi,e uibussupraam iximus,ed tiampirituales,e uibusrevitericam....).Aequalitatemse. r-tam tmanentem,G] llam...) nusquamrofectoppeteretnimus,isilicubiotasset;(...).Ubi rgo enses?...) Undergo redendumst nimaeribui,uod eternumst tincommutabile,isi buno eternot ncommutabilieo?".


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connection etween he foregoing odelof knowledgend the now onto-logically-foundedealityan n thiswaybeestablished,he uestion egardingthe ignificationf the tructuresnherent othings emainspen.

In this espect, central ole s played ya notionwhich ecurs requentlythroughout ugustine writings nd which forms well-known ub-class fhis ignanaturalis namely, estigia.70n De musicathemost mportant efer-ences o this notion refound t the nd ofbook one and at the beginning fbook six. n both casesAugustine oices heopinion hat vestigesf num-bers", nherent ither o our senses r immediatelyoobjects f perception,leadone towards he interior" r "unchangeableruth".74hebackground fthis description orms heprogram ursued yAugustinen this book: Hewishes o proceedfrom physical umbers" o "immaterial" nes.75f onebrings his ntention nto onnection ithhisconception f reality nd modelofknowledge,hefollowingonclusionsmaybe drawn. hose mathematicalstructures hichmen re able to recognizen all motions discrete nd con-tinuous, patial nd temporal are precisely hevestigianherent n things.Since these estiges oncern physical umbers", hey ignify orresponding"immaterial umbers".

73) or he estigias ignaaturaliacf., bovell, e doctrinahristianaII, 1,2 [CCSL2,32.12-33.18]:Signormgiturlia unt aturalia,lia ata. aturaliaunt, uaeine oluntateatque llo ppetituignificantraetere liquidliudx ecognosciaciunt,icutist umussignificansgnem....).Sedt estigiumranseuntisnimantisdhoc enusertinet )".Forthe mpactf his istinctionf., or xample,oger acon, esignise.g. , 3, ed.K.M.FredeborgNework,978),2: Signormutemuaedamunt aturalia,uaedamrdinataab nimad ignificandum.aturaliautemicuntur,uia x ssentiaua tnon x ntentioneanimaeigniationemecipiunt".74) f.De musicaI, 8, 28[ed.Hentschel,4.34-39]:Quamobremum ...) musica...)vestigiauaedamosuerit,onneportetademestigiarius ersequi,t ommodiusd psa(...) penetralia...) ducamur?";bid., I, 1, 1 [ibid.,6.1-11]:Satis iu ...) investigiisnumerorum...) moratiumus....) putavimus...) quibusdamradibussensibusarnis(...)duce atione...) incommutabiliseritatismoredhaerescerentsc. omines,G]".naddition,f. e ordineI, 15, 3 CCSL9, 30.17-21];urthermore,e iberorbitrioI, 16,42,163CCSL9, 65.15-17].75) or his urpose,f. e musicaVI,2,2 [ed.Hentschel,8.1 q.]:Quamobrem...), utcorporeisd ncorporearanseamus...)";with irect eferenceonumbers,bid., I, 12, 4

[ibid.,34.4-9]:Aequalitatemllam,uamn ensibilibusumerison eperiebamusertamtmanentem,edtarnendumbratamt praetereuntemgnoscebamus,usquamrofectoappeteretnimus,isi licubiotasset;oc utemlicubionn patiisocorumt emporum,namlla ument,t sta raetereunt";ordditionalvidenceeebid., I,12, 5 ibid.,36.27sq.];bid., I,12, 6 ibid.,40.75-79].


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What does this mean for the seeker f knowledge? e makes, s justdescribed, ith he help fhisnumeri ensualesthe quasi-rational"udgementthat he thingswhichhe perceivesre proportionate. e then ontinues, ymeans f he numeriudicialeswith he ctual, ationaludgement hich eadshim o the ecognitionhat hey rewell-proportioned,hich s to say hat neand the ame aw s the basis f ll proportions:he exaequalitatis.nsight ntothe ex aeqtialitatisecessarilymplies, owever,hathe haveknowledgef tsfundamental rinciple, he ummaaequalitasr unitas 6 Thevestigesnherentin things herefore eveal he determining rinciple f their mathematicalstructure, hich s at oncetheontologicaloundationf reality.77

At this point hequestion rises f the relationship etween heontic ndthe emantic imensions f a thing. hevestiges f numbers rticulate hem-selves,ccording oAugustine,n the evel f the ntic omposition f hings:they orm he physical"r sensible umbers,n short, hebeauty nd hencethe mathematical tructure f things. heir ignification efers ccordinglythrough heir orresponding immaterial" umbers the realm of the lexaequalitatis to the principle n which they re based,that s the summa

aequalitastself. husthe

ompositionf

thingi.e. ts ssentialmathemat-

icalstructure performs task nalogous o the emantic unction f a sign.Inview f theAugustininonception f igns, t could be here bjected hatthe same epistemologicalroblem ow arises n the "semantic evel" f thethingswhichwe know lready rom ugustine reflectionsn language; oralthoughinguisticigns ccording ohimmay ecapable fproviding nowl-edge, hey reyet ubject o the problem f ambiguity.n short, he ertaintyof theknowledgehey rovidesquestionable.78

76)or he elevantuotationn his onnection,f. bove,.25with . 69.For shorturveyof he ath von er rkenntnisrperlicherhythmenur wigenleichheit",f.Hentschel,'Einleitung'cit. .47above),.xix-xxvi,ho, owever,eaveshe ntologicalspectut fconsideration.77)n hisonnection,f. he reciselynverserocessf omingnto einghroughosmologi-calnumberssdescribednDe musicaVI, 17, 8 ed.Hentschel,72.67-174.79]:sta erteomnia,uaearnalisensus inisterioumeramus...), ocalesumros,...)nisi raecedenti-bus ntimist n ilentioemporalibusumeris,ui untnmotu, eccciperellosossuntechabere.llos tidememporumntervallisgiles raeceditt modificaiitalis otus erviens

dominoerummnium,on emporaliaabensigestantervallaumerorumuorum,ed em-poraministranteotentia,uprauam ationalest ntellectualsumerieatarumnimarumatqueanctarum,egempsamei )usquedterrenat nfernaura ransmittunt".he ro-cess f nowledgehus rovesobe he oeticeditusf his osmologicamanation.78) or urtheretailsn his egard,f. art of histudy.


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An answer o this bjection sprovided ythe entral haracteristic f nat-ural igns':ncontrast o the realm f igna ata there s a determinate elationbetween he natural ign and its ignification^ egarding he igns n ques-tionhere,which re ll natural hings, heir ignificatumspreciselyheir ssen-tia, or essential onstitution, nd insofar s their arrier, henatural ign,exists is eo ipsoontologicallyounded.80ue to this peculiarity, he onto-logical ruth f the hing nd the emantic ruth f the sign-thing"oincide.However,t should bekept n mind hat he onnections escribed ere pplyexclusivelyo natural hings, hat sto thereality reated yGod.81 rtificially-produced hings uch as songor dance in the field f the ars musica fall,according o this onception, ecessarilynto the category f signadata inwhich he emiotic-semanticide s not erse r naturally inked o the ntic-ontological. inally, f one regards hesign-relationshipetween he natural"sign-things"nd theprinciple owhich hey efer, amely he umma equal-itas or unit s, this relation roves o be twofold: n one direction, eadingontologicallywayfrom nity nd towards hose hings rought orth ut ofit through he ex equalitatis',n the other irection, ointing emantically-

epistemicallywayfrom

hings,ia the vis numerorum hich rdered hem,

towards heunitywhich s their oundational rinciple nd that whichmakespossible ertain nowledgef the ruth. n conclusion o this art f thepres-ent study, few pecialpoints esulting rom ur examination hallnow behighlighted.

2.4. Interim esults

(1) On the unction fnumber n the elation f hings nd truth As has beenshownon the basis of De musica number orresponds o the structure fcreated eality.t is both the formative ower n bringing orth eality, nd

79)or comparativenalysisf ignaata nd igna aturalia,f.Meier-Oeser,ieSpur esZeichenscit. .28 bove),3-26;gainst eier-Oeserho olds,bid.,6, da ie lsnatrli-ches eichenungierendeache icht ereitsufgrundhrer igenenatur eichenst", necouldbjecthatt s at east egardinghethings'nderonsiderationere preciselyheirvery ature'hat unctionss ign.80) or he ntologicaloundation,f. .25with .69above.Cf., ncontrast,he elation

betweenignaata nd heignifiedhing hichs rbitraryr ontingent,eebove,.12withn.36.Furthermore,ontraryoother indsf ignaaturaliauch s the estigef n nimalwhoseccurrences ontingentuponhe espectivenimalavingassedy), oth he ccur-rencend ignificationf he estigesn uestioneresnecessary.81) f. ur nalysisf he espectiveassagesnDemusicand e ordinebove,.19.


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(4) On thequestion f whether hings an besemantically rong,Insofar sspeech s about created r "natural" hings and only hese re things n thequadrivialense f theword , they annot ignifynaccurately,rovided nedoesnot assume geniusmalignas, ho intentionally eceivesmen,whichAugustine ertainly id not. However his characteristicf things as as aconsequence, ot onlythat heirmeaningwillalways e true, ut also thatthey ecessarilyare,what hey re, nsofar sthey re": quaecumqueunt, nquantumcumqueunt".86

3. Conclusion

Let us return o our starting oint,namely, hequestion f Augustine con-ception f truth nd of the key oleplayed yhisnotion f ignification.hecloseconnection e establishes etween anguage, erception nd reality, sreflectedn the results f the two parts f our nquiry. ccordingly, n whatfollows ewillrecall ur mainresults n order oemphasizeheir orrespon-dence nd complementarity.

As wehopeto have hown n the first, ocalled, linguistic-semantic"artof our study, ugustine efends ifferent ositions n the Contra cadmicosand De dialcticaThe critique f skepticismn Contra cadmicos estrictsknowledgef truth o things mperceptibleosense,namely o the phere fpure ubjective nd logico-mathematicalruths. hus the ntire ealm f in-guistic igns ppears ncapable f transmitting rueknowledge.n De dialc-ticahowever, ugustine hifts rom his ather egative osition o a positiveone: both hisdefinition f ign s a linkbridging hegapbetween he ensibleand intelligible, nd his epistemic onception f signification pen a newavenue or ognition f the ruth ia inguisticxpressions.lthoughinguisticexpressionsre ble to function s transmitters f true knowledge,he ctual-ization f this possibility equires he fulfillment f yet further ondition,namely, hat hose hings owhich hey reconventionallyeferringreonto-logicallyrue.

De musica rovides solutionboth to this problem nd to the seemingdead-end f mathematicalruths s discussed n the basisof Contra cadmi-cos It s n this reatise n music hatAugustine evelopsn elaborate osmo-

logicalmodelwhich

rounds ealitynd ts onstitutive tructure

ntologicallyin one ultimate rinciple, amely, od.Aspreciselyhe ame tructure har-

86) e musicaVI,17, 6 ed.Hentschel,70.18q.],squotedbove,.25,n.71.


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acterizesheprocess f humanperception nd knowledge,hismodel nsuresthe cognizabilityf reality, r more preciselytill: f ts structure. owever,due to Augustinepeculiar otion f res, ur nvestigationn the ontological"part f the tudywentyet little urther, ringing n additional spect o thefore: s some resnamelynatural' hings, ccording ohim, re lso signs,weraised hequestion f what their ignification as. It turned ut that hose"sign-things"ignify, yvirtue f their nherent umero-logicaltructure, heoneTruth, hich s at the ametime he founding rinciple f reality. ore-over, nd in contrast o the semantic evel of linguistic xpressions, hesignificationf "sign-things"sessentiallynherent o those es. onsequentlyit unambiguouslyeferso ts ignificatumleaving oroomfor eception ndthus or kepticism.

With respect o the relation f significationnd truth, heseresults aveseveral onsequences:s the tudy f Augustine early hilosophical ritingshasshown, nly hecombination f the semanticwith he ontological iewpromisesn adequateunderstandingf hisnotion f truth: he very xistenceof human cience s submitted othe three onditions f there eing 1) an

intelligibletructure f

objective eality theruth f

things),nd

(2)the

pos-sibility f cognizing nd (3) communicatinghat ntelligibletructure ithsatisfactoryccuracythe ruth f signs).Whatwe havehere s a symmetricalmodel,within which epistemologys described n terms f linguistic ndmetaphysicalomponents: hemodel nvolves linguistic-semanticide andan ontologicalne, the ccuracy f humanknowledge eing founded n theisomorphismxisting etween ords s signs f things, nd things s signs ftheir ntological ruth.

Moreover, ugustine philosophicalonception f truth nvolves theoryof ntentional bjects f a peculiarkind: generally peaking,mental cts ofperceivingnd understanding an be directed owards xtra-mental hings.When his s the ase, he ontents f hose mental cts re ntentional bjects.Thepeculiarity f the ntentional bjects nvolvedn Augustines pistemol-ogy,however seefor xample he dicibile n De dialctica nd the numeriiudicialesnDemusic),s the fact hat hey aneo pso ualify strue nvirtueof the ontologicalruth f the hings owards hich hey redirected.n thatsense, hose ntentional bjects an be described s "alethic". onsequently,the ontological ruth f things s the condition f there eing linguistic-semantic ruth.87 t the core of theseboth realms f truth s the notion of

87)or he ole layedyAugustinenmedievalndmodernheoriesf ntentionality,eeD.Perler,heorienerntentionalittmMittelalterFrankfurt.M., 002),03-405,herehe


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signification hich, n both fields, onnects ensory erceivabletems verbayres)with ntelligibleontents hat re ither onventionallyr naturallyinkedwith hesetems.

Finally nd as we have een,Augustine ocuses n things rimarily ue totheir usefulness'n leading he eeker f truth rom he ensory orld o itsfoundational,ntelligibleruth res s signa).However, lthough ugustinesown nterest sdirected owardshe ognition f ntelligiblebjects, ismodelof perception nd knowledge ecessarilyresupposesenseperception s thestarting oint of the process f cognition. or the seeker f knowledge,norder t all to detect he tructure nherent othings,must na first tage ocuson extra-mental eality. ence,besides hesemantic imension f this posi-tion the very tructure f worldly hings s a vestigium),ugustines oncen-tration n the metaphysicaltructure f things may have influenced issuccessorsn their eflectionsn the onstitution f things s things nd n anincreasingnterest n thenature s a physical ntity.88

authorhowsow ranz rentanoefersoAristotle,homasquinasnd ugustinespreviousthinkersho efendedhe mentaln-existence"f bjects;or he ole f he otion f ntentioinAugustine'sheoryf cular isionndmentalanguage,eeM.Sirridge,"Quamidendointus icimus":eeingnd ayingnDeTrinitateV',Medievalnalysesn anguagend ognitioned. .Ebbesen,nd .FriedmanCopenhagen,999),17-330nd .Cesalli,ntentionalityndTruth-Making:ugustinesnfluencenBurleyndWyclifsropositionalemantics',ivariumVol. 5,No. . 2007),83-297.88) f. or xamplehe o-calleddiscoveryf ature"n he 2th entury.hisonceptas eencoinedyM.-D. henu,athologieudouzimeicleParis,957),sp. 1-30. ecently,thasprovokedrenewedcientificnterest,f.A.Speer,ie entdeckteatur. ntersuchungenuBegrndungsversucheninercientiaaturalism 2. ahrhundertLeiden,995).Meanwhile,hequestionas een aisedhetherhe cientificnterestn he hingss hingsan e racedack

to arliereriodsnthe istoryfphilosophy,f.N.Germann,etemporumatione.ua-driviumnd otteserkenntnism eispielbbosonleurynd ermannson eichenauLeiden-Boston,006),sp. 04-309;.Burnett,Physicseforehysics.arlyranslationsromrabicof exts oncerningaturenMss. ritishibrarydditional2719nd otton alba IV',Medioevo7 2002),3-109.


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-IG0()'vBRILL

VIVARIUM

Vivarium6(2008)155-174 www.brill.nl/viv

ber das Verhltnis allgemeiner und individuellermaterieller und mathematischer Gegenstnde nach

Thomas von Aquin

AndrejKrauseSeminarur hilosophie,niversittalle-Wittenberg

AbstractThis rticlexaminesne spectfThomasquinas'nderstandingf bstraction.tshowsnwhich ay,ccordingoAquinas,niversal aterialbjectsnd ndividualmaterialbjectsre he tartingoint ormathematicalbjects.t comes o the on-clusion hat orAquinashere re notonly niversal athematicalbjectscircle,line),ut lso ndividual athematicalbjectsthis ircle,hatine).Universal athe-maticalbjectsre ropertiesfuniversal aterialbjectsnd ndividualathemati-calobjectsrepropertiesf ndividual aterialbjects.netype f bstractioormaeleads romndividualaterialbjectsouniversal athematicalbjects,secondypefrom niversal aterialbjectso universal athematicalbjects,nd a third ypefromndividual aterialbjectso ndividual athematicalbjects.herefore,heconceptf bstractioormaesambiguous.

Keywords

individual aterialbjects,niversalaterialbjects,ndividual athematicalbjects,universal athematicalbjects,bstractioormae

Inseiner chrift:uper oetium e Trinitateteilt homas onAquindie theo-retische hilosophien Naturphilosophie,athematik ndMetaphysikin.

)Diese chriftirdm olgendenit InDe Trin."bgekrztnd ach ancti homaee

Aquino,uperoetiumeTrinitateinOperamniaEditioeonina,omus(Roma-Paris,1992)itiert,obeinKlammerneweilsie eitenzahlieserusgabengegebenird.ineltereritischeusgabest anctihomaeeAquino,xpositiouperibrumoethiie Trinitateed.Bruno eckerLeiden,955).ur rageer atierung,erMotivationnd er trukturdieserchriftgl. ouglas.Hall, he rinity.nAnalysisf t.Thomasquinas'xpositiof heKoninklijkerillV, eiden,008 DOI: 0.163/156853407X246090


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A. KrauseVivarium6 2008)55-174 157

relevante nterscheidungwischenllgemeinennd individuellen ateriel-lenGegenstndenxpliziert.m dritten eil wirduntersucht, arum u denmathematischenegenstndenach Thomas sowohlallgemeinels auchindividuelleegenstnde ehrenmssen nd nwelcherWeisedie mzwei-tenTeildesAufsatzesargelegte nterscheidungonallgemeinennd ndivi-duellenmateriellenegenstndenrdie Unterscheidungonallgemeinenund ndividuellenathematischenegenstnden ichtigst. ndiesemusam-menhang ird ichunter nderem erausstellen,a derBegriffer bstractioformaemehrdeutigst.

I. Terminologische orbemerkungen4Thomasunterscheidetheoretischend praktische hilosophie. ie theore-tischePhilosophieoll sichanders ls die praktische hilosophieDingenzuwenden,ie nicht urch ie Ttigkeites Menschenntstehen,ie soll ichalsobeispielsweiseederfur die menschlichenandlungennoch fiir diedurchdie knstlerischentigkeiten ervorgebrachtenerke nteressieren.

Innerhalb er Gruppeder Dinge,die von der theoretischen hilosophiebetrachtet erden, lso nnerhalberGruppederDinge,die nicht urch ieTtigkeit es Menschenntstehen, erden reiGruppen nterschieden,iederEinteilunger heoretischenhilosophienNaturphilosophie,athema-tikundMetaphysikntsprechenollen.DieGlieder ieserGruppenhngenjeweilserschiedentark on der Materie b. Thomasnennt war uch eineAbhngigkeitonderBewegung,rbercksichtigtieseAbhngigkeitei dereigentlicheninteilung er heoretischenhilosophieedochnicht, o da siehier ernachlssigterden ann.DieGlieder er rsten ruppe ollen onderMaterieem emSeinundgemdemBegriff ecundumsse t ntellectum)abhngen,ieGlieder er weiten ruppe emdemSein,nicht ber gemdemBegriff,nd dieGlieder erdritten ruppeweder emdemSein nochgemdemBegriff. ierbei olleinbeliebiges genaudanndemBegriffachvonderMateriebhngen, enn nderDefinition onxausgesagtird, axmateriellst, ndgenaudannnicht emBegriffachvonderMaterie bhn-gen,wenn nicht n der Definition on x ausgesagt ird, ax materiellst,wobei etzteresicht hne weiteres mpliziert,a in derDefinition onx

ausgesagt ird,dax nichtmateriellst. So

folgt araus,da etwa n der

Definition es Menschennicht usgesagt ird,da der Menschkahlkpfig

4)Vgl.um olgendennDe Trin..5a. 1corp.rt. 137f.).


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158 A. KrauseVivarium6 2008)55-174

ist,nicht, aindieser efinition usgesagt ird, aer nicht ahlkpfigst.In Definitionenollengeradewesentlicheigenschaftenusgesagtwerden.Wenn alsodie Definition es Menschennicht aussagt, a der Menschkahlkpfigst, o istdamit emeint,aernichtwesentlichahlkpfigst.DerMenschknnte ber mmer ochzufllig ahlkpfigein.Entsprechendiltdann:Wenn die Definition onx nicht ussagt, ax materiellst, o istdamitgemeint, ax nichtwesentlichmateriellst.x knnte edoch mmernochzuflligmateriellein.Ferner cheint s angemessen,ieAbhngigkeitvonderMateriegemdemSein( ecundumsse)o zu interpretieren,aetwasgenaudanngemdemSeinvonderMateriebhngt, enndaraus,daesexistiert,olgt, aauchMaterie xistiert. egendiesenterpretationknnte ich ein Einwanderheben:Wre es nichtmglich, a es etwasgibt, das nicht ohne Materie ein kann,ohne da diesesetwasvon derMateriebhngt, twawenneinbestimmter ichtmaterielleregenstanda notwendigerweiseinenmateriellenegenstand b verursacht,o daa tatschlichur dann existiert, ennb existiert? rea dannabervonbabhngigDieseFragetsichbejahen:Wenna notwendigerweiseverur-

sacht,ann st vonb

abhngig,aa dannnicht hneb seinkann.Fernerst

demAutorkeineuerungesThomasbekannt,n dereinBeispiel ngege-benwird, asdemgenannteninwand ntspricht.omit assenichfolgendeDefinitionenuseinanderhalten:

Definition:x istgenaudannGliedderGruppe1,wenngilt:(1) Wennx existiert,annexistiertuchMaterie.(2) DieDefinitiononx sagt us,dax materiellst.

Definition:x istgenaudannGliedderGruppe , wenngilt:(1) Wennx existiert,annexistiertuchMaterie.(2) DieDefinitiononx sagtnicht us,dax materiellst.

Definition:x istgenaudannGliedderGruppe , wenngilt:(1) Es istnicht o,dadann,wennx existiert, aterie xistiert.(2) Die Definitiononx sagtnicht us,dax materiellst.

Unter erVoraussetzung,amanesmitDingen u tunhat,dienicht urch

dieTtigkeit esMenschenntstehen,ollsichmit den DingendererstenGruppegerade ieNaturphilosophie,ieauchPhysik enannt ird,mitdenDingender weiten ruppe ieMathematikndmitdenDingender etztenGruppe ieMetaphysikefassen.er Naturphilosophiestdieabstractioni


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1 0 A.KrauseVivarium6 2008) 5-174

Definition': x istgenau annGegenstanderNaturphilosophie,enn ilt:(1) Wennx existiert,annexistiertuchMaterie.(2) DieDefinition onx sagt us,dax materiellst.(3) x ist ein allgemeineregenstand.

Aus 2)folgt:,axmateriellst,wenngleich2),wiegesagt, icht amit den-tischst,daxmateriellst.Jedenfallsst ederGegenstanderNaturphiloso-phiemateriell.nwiefernberknnenmaterielleegenstndellgemeinein?Thomashlt weierlei aterienuseinander, ateriaarticularisnd materiauniversalisenenennt r auch materiaignatadiese uch materiaommunis9AusGrnden erEinheitlichkeiteienmfolgendenieTerminiindividuelleMaterie"rmateriaarticularisnd"allgemeineaterie" urmateria niver-salis erwendet.ie materiaignatastdas ndividuationsprinzipermateriel-lenGegenstnde,10o da sichetwa derMenschA und der MenschB,dieja materielle egenstndeind,aufgrundhrer erschiedenenndividuellenMaterie nterscheiden.ie individuelle aterie esMenschenA istdessenganzbestimmte aterie, twadie Knochenvon A. EntsprechendesiltfrB.Zwarunterscheidenich diebeiden ndividuellenaterien

oneinander,nur ollendie ndividuelle aterie onA,die ndividuelleaterie onBunddie eweiligenndividuellenaterien er anderenMenschentwasgemein-samhaben, inebestimmtellgemeineMaterie, ie sich llerdingstwavonderallgemeinen aterie er Steine der der Pferde nterscheidenoll. Derindividuelle ensch stmateriellemder ndividuellen aterie, rhatbei-spielsweiseestimmte nochen.DerallgemeineMenschstmateriellemderallgemeinenaterie, r hat keinebestimmten,ondern llgemeineno-chen.Wendet ichdieNaturphilosophieinemndividuellen enschenu,so

willsie etwasvondessen llgemeiner aterie, berauch etwasvon dessenallgemeinerormwissen.m Falldes Menschen olldieZusammensetzungaus Materie nd Formgerade ieZusammensetzungus Leib und Seele ein.So wieder ndividuelle ensch usammengesetztst us ndividuelleraterieund ndividuellerorm zw.ndividuellemeib und ndividuellereele,o istderallgemeineMenschusammengesetztusallgemeineraterie nd allge-meiner ormbzw. llgemeinemeibundallgemeinereele. DieNaturphilo-sophienteressiertich nachThomasnur fur dieallgemeineMateriebeimMenschen: urden allgemeineneib)und fur die allgemeineorm beim

9)Vgl.nDe Trin..5a. 2corp.rt. 143),d2 I43f.),th q.85 .1ad2.10)Vgl.nDe Trin..5a. 2ad1 143).


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A.KrauseVivarium6 2008)55-174 161

Menschen: rdieallgemeineeele)eines ndividuellen ateriellenegen-standes. iesoll, ndem ie vonden ndividuellenestimmungenbsieht, asAllgemeineus dem Individuellenleichsamerausziehen. ieses"Heraus-ziehen" ennt homas bstractioniversalisparticulari.u ie abstractioni-versalisparticularistderwichtigsteallderabstractiootiusbeideresumdas Verhltnison GanzesundTeilgeht.Bei der abstractiootiuswirddasGanze ohnedie Teile oder ein Teil (odermehrere eile)ohne das Ganzebetrachtet. u dieser bstractioehrt ie abstractioniversalisparticulariinsofern, ls man bei ihr dasAllgemeinels das logischeGanze{totum)auffassenann,das aus denBesonderen,us denTeilen, herausgezogen"wird.12 as Ergebnis ieses Herausziehens"st ein Gegenstand,er sowohlallgemeinls auch materiellst, ndzwarst rmateriellemder llgemeinenMaterie, icht emder ndividuellen aterie.DieNaturphilosophieiehtvonder ndividuellen aterieb.13amit sieht ie auchvon der ndividuellenForm b,denndiese rgibt ichgewissermaenus der ndividuellenaterie,da letztere, nd nichtdieindividuelleorm,dasIndividuationsprinzipermateriellenegenstndest.

Die GrenzenerAllgemeinheit

erallgemeinen

materiellenegenstndesollendurch hre Definitionenestimmt erden.Wennbeispielsweiseer

allgemeineensch ineallgemeineaterie nd eineallgemeineormhat, ohat er doch keine eliebigeaterie nd keine eliebigeorm, a er sichetwavon demallgemeinenteinoder demallgemeinenferd nterscheidet.ieAllgemeinheitesallgemeinenenschen stdurch en Begriffzw.die Defi-nition es Menscheningeschrnkt.er Mensch st invernunftbegabtesin-nenwesen.war mu man die Definitionsbestandteilevernunftbegabt"nd"Sinnenwesen"on den Teilen "Leib"und "Seele"unterscheiden,a etwa

"Sinnenwesen"ieGattung ngibt nd"vernunftbegabt"enArtunterschied,aberweder Leib" noch "Seele"dieGattung derden Artunterschiednge-ben;so istderMensch war in Sinnenwesennd er st vernunftbegabt,r stjedochkeinLeibunder st uchkeine eele.14ennoch olldie DefinitionesMenschendie Grenzender Allgemeinheiter menschlichen aterieundForm ngeben.

n)Vgl.nDeTrin..5a.2corp.rt.143),.3corp.rt.149).ine eschichtsphilosophischeUntersuchungu nDeTrin..5. .3.findetichn afleur,Abstraction,parationt ripartition12)Vgl.nDeTrin..5a.3corp.rt.149).gl.uchatt, etaphysikei homasonauin,8.13)Vgl.nDe Trin.. 5a. 2ad2(144):undentellectusommuniterbstraitsic] materiasignata.,non utemmateriaommunin cientiaaturali"14)Vgl.e entet ss. . I (372).


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Dieallgemeinen ateriellenegenstnde,ie durch ie abstractioniver-salis particularirkannt erden,ollenkeineGegenstndeeben en ndivi-duellenmateriellenegenstnden,ondernn hnen leichsamnthaltenein.blicherweiseird diese universalientheoretischeosition ls gemigterRealismusbezeichnet. ie thomasischenllgemeinenmateriellen egen-stnde indkeine deen m SinnePiatons,weil siewegenhrer llgemeinenMateriemateriellind.Thomasehnt n In De Trin. ie Annahme er deenPiatons b.15omit st uch derMensch,nsofernr Mensch st,keineplato-nische dee,sondern in allgemeiner aterieller egenstand,er n jedemeinzelnenMenschenenthalten"st.Er ist nicht on derMaterie etrennt.16Nach Thomasgibt s alsoallgemeinematerielleegenstndez.B. denallge-meinenMenschen)und individuellematerielle egenstndez. B. diesenMenschenA).Dieallgemeinenmateriellen egenstnde erden urchdieabstractioniversalisparticulariwar rkannt, bernicht eschaffen.ieexi-stierenuchohne diese bstractioallerdingsichtneben,ondern leichsam,wiegesagt,n denindividuellen ateriellen egenstnden.atrlichwirftdiese ntologischeositionwic

vivarium - vol xlvi, no 2, 2008

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