The Notion of Homonymy, Synonymy, Multivocity, and Pros Hens in Aristotle

This doctoral thesis addresses a group of conceptual instruments that are central to Aristotle’s philosophy, namely, the concepts of pros hen, homonymy, synonymy and multivocity (a neologism for the phrase 'to be said in many ways'). These instruments are crucial to many of Aristotle’s works as he devotes himself to analysing the key notions in each of his investigations using these instruments.

Despite the undisputable importance of these instruments, they display severe interpretative problems, which this thesis critically evaluates. The currently established view on the relationship between homonymy and multivocity is discussed and then reassessed in order to approach the definition of the so-called pros hen structure. This approach takes into account a so-far undescribed distinction of types of examples Aristotle uses and sheds new light on the assessments of the role of the pros hen structure in Aristotle’s philosophy and the theories on development in Aristotle’s thought