WHAT DO „AFFECTIONS IN THE SOUL” RESEMBLE?2 Aristotle’s model of the linguistic sign

Abstract

In this paper, I will discuss in detail how Aristotle reconciles the polemic between conventionalism and naturalism in the theory of naming. In the opening sentences of the De Interpretatione, he claims that the relationship between signifying sounds and signified content is arbitrary, while the one between „affections in the soul” and non-mental objects, which exist independently of us, is explained in terms of likeness. I will argue that these „affections” are primarily thoughts, which resemble external entities by thoughts being able to conceive of the immanent forms in these external objects.