Different Kinds of Equivocation in Aristotle

Abstract

The interrelations of (1) synonymy, (2) homonymy, And (3) the intermediate class of "pollakhos legetai" in aristotle are studied here. The independence of (3) "vis-A-Vis" (2) is defended against g. E. L. Owen. The role of amphiboly (ambiguity of phrases as distinguished from that of words) in the development of (3) is emphasized. In aristotle, (3) "owes its genesis as much to the breakdown of the homonymy-Amphiboly distinction as to the breakdown of the synonymy-Homonymy dichotomy".