Retour sur la terminologie stoïcienne de la signification

Abstract

In this article I revisit certain conceptual configurations peculiar to Stoic logic and relative to the Stoic treatment of meaning that, as we well know, breaks down into signifier and signified. The question I ask is the following : to which certitudes are we likely to be led with the texts that are available to us on the question of the relationships between meaning (thus signifier, σημαῖνον, and signified, σημαινόμενον) and λεκτόν ? I take advantage of this investigation to reopen the inquiry into the possible modal interpretation of the λεκτόν and I propose to analyze the Stoic theory of meaning while taking into account associated or related concepts, such as πρᾶγμα and πτῶσις.

Keywords

• Stoicism
• language
• meaning
• lekton
• signified
• representation